Re: [cobirds] Red Crossbills & sunflowers

Thanks, Dave, for the report about the crossbills in Fort Collins.

Your post got me wondering:

1. If juvenile crossbills are still developing curved beaks, might that explain why we don't see adults in these flocks feeding on sunflowers?  Could the juvenile beaks be more suited to prying seeds from the sunflowers than prying them from pine cones?  Or might adult beaks be less suited to sunflowers? (Although many of the juvies I saw yesterday had less curved beaks, several had very curved beaks, so maybe this theory doesn't work.)

2. Is there a shortage of food in the foothills for the juveniles?  There have long been sunflowers on the plains, but this is the first time I've seen crossbills encamped at the Community Gardens.  (They're still there, as of 6:45 this morning.)

3. Do juvenile crossbills generally separate from the adults and form juvenile flocks?

Here's a shot of one of the juvies yesterday.

Richard