Malocclusion of Red Crossbills in Denver's Cheesman Park 4/4

[Joe Roller]

A recent acquaintance, Jared Del Rosso, birds often in Cheesman Park and the nearby Botanic Gardens.

He found a malocclusion of Red Crossbills in the NE corner of that park this afternoon, and I was able

to get over there in time to find them feeding in a tall Blue Spruce. He had estimated that there were 6-9

in this orthodontically-challenged group, both males and females.

They have roamed that corner and were most recently been seen high in the tallest and most north-easterly spruce in 

a line of spruces.

Jared also found a sapsucker there yesterday and thought it to be a Female Red-naped Sapsucker, based on a very limited amount

of white under the chin. As you know, this is a tough individual to distinguish from a Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, convergent

evolution at its best.

Joe Roller, 

Denver