Two-barred Crossbill

Loxia leucoptera Gmelin, JF, 1789

Two-barred Crossbill, Loxia leucoptera, is a finch of the conifer forests of the Palearctic and North America, breeding from subarctic to northern temperate Holarctic woodland. It is found across eastern Scandinavia and Russia to the Sea of Okhotsk, south into southern Russia, north-east Mongolia and probably far north-east China, and in Alaska, Canada apart from the far north, the Rocky Mountains and the northern tier of the contiguous United States. Outside the breeding season it moves south in irregular irruptions. Its key feature is the pair of white wing-bars that give it its name.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Fringillidae — Finches, Euphonias

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: subarctic to n temperate Holarctic conifer forest: e Scandinavia through Russia to Sea of Okhotsk, s through sc Russia, ne Mongolia and probably Heilongjiang (far ne China); Alaska and Canada (except n), Rocky Mts. and n tier of contiguous US states

Nonbreeding range

irruptively southward