Here you see an unusual bird that looks like he has serious over-bite issues. He’s a male red crossbill, a type of finch with a special beak adaptation in which the mandibles are crossed at their tips.

Their namesake crossed beaks allow the species to extract seeds from unopened conifer cones and fruit. I was lucky enough to come across him in the deep woods yesterday while he was feeding two of his fledglings; the female was not in sight.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 21, 2023.)

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