crossbill

cross·bill

C0761200 (krôs′bĭl′, krŏs′-)n. Any of various finches of the genus Loxia, having curved mandibles with narrow tips that cross when the bill is closed.

crossbill

(ˈkrɒsˌbɪl) n (Animals) any of various widely distributed finches of the genus Loxia, such as L. curvirostra, that occur in coniferous woods and have a bill with crossed mandible tips for feeding on conifer seeds

cross•bill

(ˈkrɔsˌbɪl, ˈkrɒs-)

n. any bird of the genus Loxia (family Fringillidae), of coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere, having a bill with crossed tips used to extract seeds from cones. [1665–75]

Thesaurus

Noun

crossbill - finch with a bill whose tips cross when closedLoxia curvirostrafinch - any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seedsgenus Loxia, Loxia - crossbill

Translations

crossbill

crossbill,

bird of the genus Loxia, in the finchfinch,
common name for members of the Fringillidae, the largest family of birds (including over half the known species), found in most parts of the world except Australia.
..... Click the link for more information. family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in the evergreen forests of the Northern Hemisphere, as far south as NW Africa and Guatemala. Two species occur in the United States. The red crossbill (L. curvirostra) is found in Europe and in N and central Asia as well as in North America. Males have orange to dull red plumage, with black wings. The white-winged crossbill (L. leucoptera) occurs in northern Russia and in North America; the male of this species is rosy red and both sexes are marked with white wing bars. Females of both species are olive-gray and yellow; they lay three to four pale green, brown-spotted eggs, in well-formed nests built in trees. Crossbills are not considered migratory, but they shift their breeding grounds erratically, probably in response to the availability of pine cones. Sometimes they suddenly appear in large numbers in areas where they were formerly rarely seen. They are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Fringillidae.

crossbill

any of various widely distributed finches of the genus Loxia, such as L. curvirostra, that occur in coniferous woods and have a bill with crossed mandible tips for feeding on conifer seeds

crossbill

cross·bill

crossbill

cross•bill

crossbill

crossbill,

crossbill

crossbill

Synonyms for crossbill

noun finch with a bill whose tips cross when closed

Synonyms

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