[Maine-birds] Seeking recordings and/or photos of Shapleigh/Waterboro Red Crossbills

While visiting Maine from Massachusetts last week I managed to see, photograph, and record Red Crossbills in Pitch Pines at Round Pond Road in Waterboro. Thanks to the Maine native at Biddeford who alerted us to their presence.

When I got home I had trouble identifying which call type I'd recorded. So I sent my recording off to Matt Young at Cornell who's researching the distribution of the different call types. He couldn't identify all of them either. More recordings could help us to track down which types are there. Unfortunately I won't be able to get back there for some time. If you're in the area and can swing by to record and if possible photograph them, or if you've already done so, getting those recordings and photographs to Matt Young could help our knowledge of this complicated species.

The spot where I was able to record the unidentified birds was at the triangle on Round Pond Road where it intersects Buff Brook Rd before veering south. We also heard and saw (but were unable to record) more Red Crossbills about a mile away on the snowmobile trail that runs north of the intersection of Newfield and Gray Rds in Shapleigh. Pitch Pines extend for miles in that general area so there could easily be more in other spots.

Here's a great article by Matt Young explaining the different call types with some information about how to record them: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/recrtype/ . Send recordings/photos to Matt at may6@cornell.edu . His email address is in the article as well.

I just used my smartphone with a recording app to record the birds. Be careful if you're using a device or app optimized for human voice that it isn't filtering out higher frequencies that birds use. Also, at both locations we ran into Red Crossbills within just a few minutes of arriving so it shouldn't be necessary, and isn't advised, to play recordings to attract them. If they're there you'll find them with a little patience.

Thanks and happy Crossbill hunting,

Tim Factor
Boston, MA

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