[LACoBirds] Type 4 Red Crossbills in California

There’s been a big push of type 4 red crossbills around the country in recent weeks with particularly strong numbers in the northeast.  But they’re starting to turn up in California too, particularly in places where they haven’t been reported before, such as Monterey, the east Bay, and now at Covington Park in Morongo in southern California.  There’s also evidence that types 2 and 3 are on the move in the state.

If you find crossbills, PLEASE record them and upload recordings to your eBird lists.  Cell phone recordings can work really well for this.  If you have a bit of experience with audio files, it also helps if you normalize the recordings to -3 dB (as eBird recommends), which usually increases the volume. No problem if you aren’t familiar with that, though.  

Prior to the report by Tom Benson, Brittany O’Connor, Sandy Koonce, Matt Grube, and Johnny Bovee at Covington Park on Saturday, type 4s had not previously been documented anywhere in the southern part of the state.  

Regards,

Lance

Lance Benner

Altadena, CA