White-winged Crossbills

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Gaelen Schnare

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Feb 18, 2026, 1:32:12 PMFeb 18
to West Kootenay Birds
Hi West Kootenay Birders, 

While travelling over Kootenay Pass today, I came across several large flocks of Pine Siskin eating gravel along the roadway. With them, there were 100 plus White-winged Crossbills. In addition, the large flock of Grey-crowned Rosy-finches is still present just west of the summit. I haven’t seen these numbers of WWCR since the big crossbill winter several years ago. 
Has anyone else been seeing crossbills lately?

Gaelen 

Gary Davidson

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Feb 18, 2026, 1:36:24 PMFeb 18
to Gaelen Schnare, West Kootenay Birds
I didn't see that many, but I saw a few on the road on my way to Vernon across the Monashee Pass last week.
Gary

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Cynthia Fraser

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Feb 18, 2026, 2:08:32 PMFeb 18
to Gary Davidson, Gaelen Schnare, West Kootenay Birds
That’s marvellous Gaelen!  I saw a few WWCB in Taghum in late January.  Cynthia 

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Sachi Snively

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Feb 18, 2026, 3:08:54 PMFeb 18
to Gary Davidson, Gaelen Schnare, Kootenay Birds West
I haven’t been up high much but I did have two WWCR down at valley bottom on Sunday. Has anyone noticed how the cone crops are up high? Still fully laden?? 
Sachi

On Feb 18, 2026, at 10:36 AM, 'Gary Davidson' via West Kootenay Birds <wkb...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



Gaelen Schnare

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Feb 18, 2026, 3:32:14 PMFeb 18
to Sachi Snively, West Kootenay Birds
The trees at the summit of Kootenay pass are still quite laden with cones. It was a significant crop up there earlier this year. 

Gaelen

Sachi Snively

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Feb 18, 2026, 5:57:58 PMFeb 18
to Gaelen Schnare, Kootenay Birds West
It certainly was! Glad to hear that the food is still available plentiful up there! That is why so many crossbills are :)
Sachi

On Feb 18, 2026, at 12:32 PM, Gaelen Schnare <gaelen...@gmail.com> wrote:



Sachi Snively

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Feb 18, 2026, 6:03:01 PMFeb 18
to Gaelen Schnare, Kootenay Birds West
It sounds like a spectacular drive! 
Sachi

On Feb 18, 2026, at 2:57 PM, Sachi Snively <sach...@gmail.com> wrote:

It certainly was! Glad to hear that the food is still available plentiful up there! That is why so many crossbills are :)

Verena Shaw

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Feb 18, 2026, 11:40:53 PMFeb 18
to West Kootenay Birds
I've been seeing a few White-winged Crossbills  in the parking lot at Apex over the past few weeks. Unfortunately I saw a dead one there (hit by vehicle?) as well. SO MANY Pine Siskins at Busk while skiing the other day. 
Remember to honk for the birds if you see any on the road as they respond to honking. I had to do this a lot when I went over Kootenay Pass a couple of weeks ago as there were so many birds along the side of the road.
Verena

James Turner

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Feb 21, 2026, 12:42:29 PMFeb 21
to Kootenay Birds West
Hi alll,

A few weeks ago, We had a quite a few large flocks of WWCR up on top of Kootenay pass mixed in with high numbers of Cassin’s finch. Lots of Siskin and red crossbills on the road as well. 

Just this morning had a lone, male, WWCR at Nelson landing! A nice surprise.

James Turner


On Feb 18, 2026, at 8:40 PM, Verena Shaw <veren...@gmail.com> wrote:

I've been seeing a few White-winged Crossbills  in the parking lot at Apex over the past few weeks. Unfortunately I saw a dead one there (hit by vehicle?) as well. SO MANY Pine Siskins at Busk while skiing the other day. 
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terry lowrey

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Mar 1, 2026, 11:40:22 AMMar 1
to West Kootenay Birds
Yesterday, February 28, we saw 2 winter wrens calling by the spawning channel in Kokanee Creek Park. This seems very early! Has anyone else seen wrens this early in the season?
Ursula

On Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 10:32:12 AM UTC-8 Gaelen Schnare wrote:

jdulisse

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Mar 1, 2026, 12:40:19 PMMar 1
to terry lowrey, West Kootenay Birds
Hi Ursula,

In 2010, the winter wren was split from the Pacific wren. The winter wren occurs east of the Rockies (rare here) and Pacific wren is the species we have here. Having said that, quite a few individual wrens stick around for the winter... so maybe that's what you're hearing?

Jakob



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mindobarbet

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Mar 1, 2026, 4:24:32 PMMar 1
to jdulisse, terry lowrey, West Kootenay Birds
Echoing what Jacob said: Pacific Wren can be seen year round, one of the few bird sounds you can hear in mid-winter from a variety of habitats as long as there is some tangled understory and they aren't drowned out by Pine Siskin. The species was present at both Grohman Narrows and Taghum this morning.

Chris
From: wkb...@googlegroups.com <wkb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of jdulisse <jdul...@netidea.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 1, 2026 9:40 AM
To: terry lowrey <utlo...@gmail.com>; West Kootenay Birds <wkb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: WKBirds Announcement: winter wrens
 

marlene johnston

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Mar 2, 2026, 10:54:15 AMMar 2
to WestKootenayBirds
At Lardeau area, we occasionally will see Pacific Wrens throughout winter and hear their call but not their song. However, for the past couple weeks there has been a good number of singing wrens around Lardeau and along the highway heading north.

marlene


Gary Davidson

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Mar 2, 2026, 12:46:26 PMMar 2
to WestKootenayBirds
I think the reason we may think that Pacific Wrens leave us in the winter is that we don't hear their lovely song any more. But in the southern interior, the species does not normally migrate at all. Further north, in the central and northern parts of the province, there is some southward movement in winter. 
On the Nakusp Christmas Bird Count, the average number of Pacific Wrens counted during our 49 year history is 2.6. 
Gary

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