Two-barred Crossbill at Bedgebury

October 1990

Ken Hook

On Sunday October 7th 1990 I was birdwatching in Bedgebury Pinetum with my wife, Maggie, and son, Richard. The weather was fine, with a fresh NE wind and about 70% cloud cover. At approximately 13.50 BST we entered the Pinetum from the south east and made our way to an area where we have seen Hawfinches and Bramblings in previous years. Whilst taking a path through the trees, we heard Crossbills calling and I saw two birds fly into a fir tree some 40m in front of me. On inspecting the tree, I then saw about 10 Crossbills feeding some 5m from the ground. I called my wife and son and moved closer and was able to scan the birds with my telescope at 20 m range; the flock comprised mainly of females and first year birds in various stages of moult , but with two adult males which initially caught our attention.

After about five minutes I noticed a Crossbill with two prominent white wingbars , and pointed it out to my family. We were immediately struck by the boldness and whiteness of the wingbars . My immediate reaction was to identify the bird as a possible Two-barred Crossbill, but Richard warned of the possibility of confusion with Crossbills showing wingbars. We made careful observations in comparison with other members of the flock, and were helped by the less mobile nature of the bird, which, although moving around to feed, spent long periods at single cones, making close observation easier. We were eventually able to get within 10m of the feeding flock. At about 14.25 BST, the whole flock of Crossbills flew up into one of the nearby trees. We could not relocate the bird and then had to leave. On returning home and after careful perusal of field guides we decided to report the bird to Birdline South East as a probable first year female Two-barred Crossbill. We subsequently learnt that the bird was seen on October 8th and on many occasions after that.

A summary of the field notes describing the first bird is as follows:-Size and shape: slightly smaller and slimmer than nearby Crossbills. Head & neck: greyish , with heavy brownish-black streaking on crown and nape, dark eyestripe . Upperparts: mantle, upperwing coverts and back, greyish -green streaked brownish black; rump unstreaked greyish brown. Flight feathers appeared a darker greyish -brown than on the other 1st winter Crossbills, but this may have been merely the contrast with the two bold, solid white wingbars on each wing. The bar on the median coverts was uniformly deep; we estimated its depth as approximately a third that of the dark area between the wingbars. The bar on the greater coverts was even larger, but not of uniform depth, being thinner at the outer edge and then bulging very considerably at the inner edge. The tertials had white tips, giving MAH the appearance of 3 white Vs when the bird was viewed from the rear. Underparts : breast lighter greyish -green than the upperparts and heavily streaked brownish-black. Belly lighter than breast and unstreaked . Flanks and side yellowish-green and unstreaked. The tail was brownish-black and notched, similar to the other Crossbills. RAH considered the bill to be slightly longer and slimmer than the other Crossbills, but generally the bare parts were very similar. The voice was not heard.

During the following week a Two-barred Crossbill was regularly reported at Bedgebury, and on Saturday Oct.13th, we returned to the Pinetum in the hope of photographing the bird we had seen the previous Sunday. On arrival at midday we found a group of birders viewing a Crossbill species amongst a flock of Crossbills at the top of some larches. To our surprise, the bird identified as a Two-barred Crossbill displayed several features quite different to our original bird. We were able to watch the bird down to 5 metres for about 30 minutes; the following differences were noted:

1.   In general, the moult of the second bird appeared less advanced than the first, with its overall colouration darker and more streaked.

2. Upperparts: the second bird showed no wingbar on the median coverts on either wing, and the wingbars on the greater coverts appeared straighter-edged, although again broadening considerably on the inner wing.

3.   Underparts : flanks greyer and streaked, not clear yellowish-green. Belly darker and streaked.

These discrepancies were reported to those present, and we understand that there were reports of both birds being seen together during the month.