White-winged Crossbill in St. Louis County
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Occasional in St. Louis County in the Spring season

27 March 2009 Very tame white-winged crossbill photographed along Owl Road, Sax-Zim Bog, St. Louis, County, MN. Allowed my brother and I to observe it from a distance of less than a foot while it fed on spruce cones meticulously removing them, holding them between its feet, extracting seeds from between the cone scales and repeating the process like a small parrot. Allowed my brother Darrin to actually stroke its back while it fed and actually head butted his hand out of the way as to not interfere with its feeding. Observed the bird for 20 minutes before it flew to a neighboring small spruce tree and continued feeding.

Kevin Swagel Canon EOS