Hi all, I’m beginning a multi-year effort to characterize seasonal changes in the diets of eastern red crossbill call types. We know that crossbills in the east are fairly generalized in the sense that they feed on many conifer species. However, we don’t know if certain conifers are particularly important at specific times of the year or if certain conifers form a “core” part of crossbill diets across years.
Therefore, if you come across red crossbills in the field, I would tremendously appreciate it if you’d record their calls and get a picture of the conifer(s) the birds are feeding on (pictures of the cones are especially helpful). There are a few ways you could contribute observations to this project. Perhaps the easiest is to upload a recording of the crossbill’s calls and a picture of the conifers the birds were feeding on to an eBird checklist. If you’re comfortable with eastern conifer ID, even a note about what conifer(s) the birds were feeding on is helpful. I will check eBird checklists with rich media monthly, though you're certainly welcome to email your checklist to me directly. For those who aren’t eBird users, I’ve also created an iNaturalist project that folks can easily upload observations to (link to the project at the bottom of this email). Finally, if you’re not into eBird or iNaturalist, I’d greatly appreciate you reaching out to me directly with recordings and pictures/notes on what crossbills are feeding on (my email address is: empidonaxdvg “at” gmail “dot” com). In addition to the iNaturalist project link, I’ve also included a link to a longer description of the project on my personal webpage if you’re interested. Thanks a ton for considering my request. Please feel free to reach out with any questions! Also, please pass this onto anyone you think might be interested in contributing observations to this project. Good birding, Dr. Cody Porter Ames, Iowa *iNaturalist project link: * https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/feeding-ecology-of-eastern-red-crossbills *Project description link:* https://ckporter.weebly.com/eastern-red-crossbill-ecology.html ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
