Common crossbill

    Loxia curvirostra

Castilian: Piquituerto común

Catalan: Trencapinyes

Gallego: Cruzabico

Euskera: Mokokerra

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Fringillidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

While it is not threatened, fires and deforestation put its abundance at risk.

Length / size: 15-17 cm / 27-30 cm

Identification: Bird with a large head and powerful bill that is characterised by the mandible crossing at their tips. Adult males are reddish and females are a more greyish-green colour. Both sexes' wings are greyish-brown and faintly striped.

Song: Its calls are fast and loud: "kweek kweek kweek" and "gleep gleep gleep".

Diet: Its primary food source is pine nuts from the following varieties of pine trees: wild, European black, and Aleppo. Its diet is complemented with occasional dry and fleshy fruits from other trees or bushes and a wide variety of insects.

Reproduction: The breeding period is variable without a specific month; it depends on the availability of food. They position the nest in trees on the outskirts of forests, using thin pine branches, moss and lichens to build it. The female incubates the eggs and the chicks are fed by both parents. Reproductive success depends on the pressure that it suffers from jays and squirrels.

HABITAT

It is a forest bird that appears primarily in coniferous mountain forests. It is distributed in pine forests from sea level up to an elevation of 2,000 metres.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is located in the eastern half of the peninsula, from Málaga to the Pyrenees. It is also found in the Cantrabrian Mountains, the Central and Iberian Systems, and the depressions of the Rivers Duero, Tajo and Guadalquivir.

In Castile and León: Noteworthy populations can be found in Burgos, Palencia, León, and the pine groves in Ávila and Segovia.

Movements and migrations: It is considered a sedentary species in the peninsula, but it performs local migrations in search of food.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 190000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of less than 3500 breeding pairs.