Cassia Crossbill, Loxia sinesciuris
With their unique crisscrossed bills and their nomadic habits, crossbills are an intriguing family of birds. In 2017, a subspecies of Red Crossbill in Idaho was granted species status. Unlike other Red Crossbills, this species is not nomadic and stays in one place. On top of that, it has developed a slightly thicker bill to feed on the seeds of lodgepole pine that regular Red Crossbills cannot open. Because it is endemic to Cassia County in Idaho, this new species was named the Cassia Crossbill.
Fortunately for me, my road trip to move from Alaska to Wisconsin gave me an opportunity to pass through Cassia County and attempt to find the Cassia Crossbill. I had never before been to Idaho, and do not know when I will be passing through again, so I knew I had to make every effort to see this bird while I had the chance. Using Ebird, we were able to find Cassia Crossbills that had been reported in the souther portion of the Sawtooth National Forest. A number of crossbills had been reported during the week at the Diamondfield Jack Campground, which fortunately offers overnight camping. Figuring that we could spend the entire evening looking for them upon arrival, we also reasoned that we could camp and devote the next morning to looking for them if necessary.
It took us about a half hour of driving to reach the campground from the western entrance to the National Forest. When we got there it was around 6PM, so there was still plenty of daylight left to look for the crossbills. A group of birders was already there, and they told us that they had been staking out the crossbills for hours already and had seen them earlier that morning in a tall snag at the far edge of the campground.
Figuring that we had some time to get situated before setting up our own stakeout, I went to go relieve myself in the woods. No sooner had I found a good spot then I heard the unmistakable (albeit weird sounding) call of a flock of crossbills, and I looked up to see about thirty of the birds zooming towards the aforementioned snag. Changing plans, I ran back to the campground and raced over to get to see the flock of Cassia Crossbills spend a few minutes eating some cones before moving on. Now that’s what I call instantaneous (albeit poorly timed) gratification!
The next morning, we got up at daybreak and sure enough saw the entire flock in the snag. We chased them from tree to tree as they foraged, getting better looks as the sun got higher. The other group of birders, who had also stayed the night, called us over to a pile of downed tree limbs. To our delight, the Cassia Crossbills were eating from the pinecones about eight feet away, completely oblivious to our presence. Since it was mid-July, we even got to see a juvenile bird beg for food and then get fed! It was amazing to be able to see such a unique bird so closely.
Adult male
Juvenile Crossbill
Takeaway Tips: The Diamondfield Jack Campground has a ring of lodge pines that the crossbills feed on. They do laps, so patience will eventually pay off. Looking for fallen limbs with pinecones can help you see the crossbills close up, otherwise it was a case of serious warbler-neck looking at them at the tops of the pines (and the looks were not nearly as satisfying.)
Note that there is no cell service in the campground. I needed to use Ebird to familiarize myself with its calls, since they are the best way to distinguish Cassia Crossbill from Red Crossbill. I wish that I had recorded the call with my phone so I could have accessed it while I was in the campground; luckily it was different enough (and the other birders were able to help us confirm that we were indeed seeing Cassia Crossbills).
