Scottish crossbill
loxia scotica latin

The Scottish Crossbill is finally confirmed as a unique species.

The forest is home to the endangered Capercaillie and endemic Scottish Crossbill.

The Scottish Crossbill was confirmed as a unique species in August 2006, on the basis of having a distinctive bird song.

The Scottish Crossbill is the only endemnic vertebrate species in the UK.

(Note: In Victorian times the Scottish Crossbill had not been identified)

The Scottish Crossbill is extremely difficult to separate from the Red and Parrot, and plumage distinctions are negligible.

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

Scottish Crossbill, Loxia scotica (formerly treated as a race of Parrot Crossbill)

The Scottish Crossbill appears to be a specialist feeder on the cones of pines (Scots pine and Lodgepole pine) and larch.

The British Ornithologists Union first classed the Scottish Crossbill as a separate and distinct species in 1980, but some ornithologists believed there was insufficient scientific research for its status.

There is also a small population in Scotland, adding to the difficulty of distinguishing it from Red Crossbill and the endemic Scottish Crossbill, both of which breed within its range.

The Scottish Crossbill, Loxia scotica, which inhabits the coniferous forests of the Highlands, is Britain's only endemic bird and, with only 300 breeding pairs, one of Europe's most threatened species.

Remnants of the native Scots pine forest exist and within these areas the Scottish crossbill, the UK's only endemic bird species and vertebrate, can be found alongside capercaillie, wildcat, red squirrel and pine marten.

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.

Other important local sites where TDFC takes an active interest have been nesting Ospreys, Capercaillie (Scottish Gaelic: An Coileach-Fraoich) strongholds, Scottish Crossbill habitat, and extensive mudflats important for feeding wading birds.

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 Scottish Crossbill (Loxia scotica) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.

Scottish Crossbill, Loxia scotica (formerly treated as a race of Parrot Crossbill)

The Scottish Crossbill, Loxia scotica, which inhabits the coniferous forests of the Highlands, is Britain's only endemic bird and, with only 300 breeding pairs, one of Europe's most threatened species.