RFI -- Red Crossbill Feeding Observations

[C]

Hi all,

I'm writing with my late summer request for observations of red crossbills foraging on conifers. Now is the time when cone crops on many conifers are starting to mature, so crossbills could be gearing up to breed if there is a decent cone crop near you.

As a reminder: I'm looking for recordings of red crossbill calls from the eastern US/Great Lakes with information on the conifers the birds are feeding on. The recordings do not have to be made with any advanced equipment -- most phone recordings are sufficient. Pictures of the conifer cones are most helpful. However, if you are comfortable with conifer identification, notes on which conifers birds are feeding on are also valuable.

I also wrote a short update on the project and the 2023-2024 "conifer season" on the iNaturalist page for this project (link here). We are quickly approaching 1,000 observations, and this past year was a very interesting one!

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed!

Best,

Dr. Cody Porter

Holland, MI

iNaturalist Project Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/feeding-ecology-of-eastern-red-crossbills

Project Description: https://www.ckporterlab.com/community-science