Red Cross

 No, not that Red Cross. The red crossbill. 

 
I hadn't seen one of these birds for ages and I got lucky when I spotted this immature one while out on my morning ramble.

It looks like a young male that is starting to don his red feathers. He's in the phase where he looks kind of speckled and untidy. 

They are primarily inhabitants of coniferous forests, feeding on conifer seeds and they usually hang out in flocks.

I caught this youngster out on his own as he gathered a little bit of grit in the middle of the dirt road where I was walking.

These finch-family birds are so interesting. They have these marvelous twisted bills that cross over when they close their mouths. Hence the name crossbill.

Perhaps their bills adapted to make it easier to break into pine cones to get the little nuts out. In any event, I was delighted to see this fellow. I hope you enjoyed seeing him along with me.