At 6:30 one morning in early July, Craig Benkman, a University of Wyoming ecologist, began to stalk red crossbills in the South Hills of Idaho. We were between Twin Falls and the Nevada border, ...

Beginning birdwatchers are often told to look at a bird’s beak because it provides clues about what the bird eats. Think of a hawk with its sharply hooked beak for tearing flesh, or a cardinal with ...

The white-winged crossbill (pictured) and the red crossbill have returned to Maine in large numbers this year. The finches have uniquely adapted bills that cross near the tip, allowing them to harvest ...

Most songbirds head south for the winter, as food supplies disappear, returning to breed in the spring, when booming insect populations can satisfy clamoring broods. Not crossbills. This colorful ...

A bird beak is the most important resource it has, and every species has one solely designed for survival. Birds use beaks for just about everything: building nests, feeding their young, cleaning ...