Common/Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra

The Common Crossbill, also called the Red Crossbill in America, is a heavy finch native to pine forests of Eurasia and North America. Like other Crossbills, the male is red and the female is brown, in this species a yellowy or greeny brown. The large crossed bill is a special tool for extracting pine nuts from the cones. The photos above are from Alexandra Makhnina in southeast Kazakhstan and are likely to be the Tian Shan subspecies L. c. tianschanica.

Thanks to Keith Wood for the above photos of the subspecies L. c. percna endemic to Newfoundland, Canada, including male, female and the streaky juvenile which doesn't have a crossed bill yet.