parrot crossbill
loxia pytyopsittacus latin

The Parrot Crossbill is a specialist feeder on the cones of Scots pine.

Until 2009, Parrot Crossbill was an anomaly, in that it was on the Committee's list of species, even though a breeding population exists in Scotland.

For example, the culmen of the Parrot Crossbill is strongly decurved, while that of the very similar Red Crossbill is more moderately curved.

It was considered to be possibly a race of either the Red Crossbill or the Parrot Crossbill, both of which also occur in the Caledonian Forest.

In addition to Parrot Crossbill, four species, Cetti's Warbler, Little Egret, Long-tailed Skua and Mediterranean Gull, have become so common that they no longer qualify even as scarce migrants.

Within its Eurasian range, this species is smaller-headed and smaller-billed than Parrot Crossbill and Scottish Crossbill, so the main confusion species both there and in North America is Common or Red Crossbill.

This species is difficult to separate from Parrot Crossbill and Scottish Crossbill, both of which breed within its Eurasian range, as plumage distinctions from those two species are negligible, though the head and bill are smaller than in either of the other species.

The Parrot Crossbill (Loxia pytyopsittacus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.