Common Crossbill

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Green listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I,IV), Bern(III)

Trends could not be produced for this species prior to the start of BBS. Atlas data for 2008-11 confirm that Crossbills were at a high level of abundance (Balmer et al. 2013) although the long-term trend is unclear and following a recent decrease numbers recorded by BBS are now similar to the late 1990s and early 2000s.

UK breeding population

No population change in UK (1995–2022)

Crossbills are highly mobile, moving in response to conifer seed production. During the winters covered by Bird Atlas 2007–11

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Occupied 10-km squares in UK

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Most frequent in

Coniferous Wood

Relative frequency by habitat

Relative occurrence in different habitat types during the breeding season.

There have been significant gains in the numbers of occupied 10-km squares throughout much of Britain & Ireland since the 1981–84 Winter Atlas and the 1968–72 Breeding Atlas, associated with the maturing of forestry planted after 1945.

Common Crossbill is a localised resident and passage migrant and can be encountered throughout the year.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	3 years 2 months 10 days (set in 1976)
Typical Lifespan	2 years with breeding typically at 1 year
Adult Survival	0.463

Wing Length	Adults	97.8±2.7 | Range 93–102mm, N=271
	Juveniles	97±2.8 | Range 92-101mm, N=87
	Males	99.6±2.2 | Range 96–103mm, N=119
	Females	96.4±2.2 | Range 92–100mm, N=152

Body Weight	Adults	40.3±3.5 | Range 34.7–46.7g, N=255
	Juveniles	38.4±3.7 | Range 32.0–44.4g, N=81
	Males	40.9±3.3 | Range 35.3–46.8g, N=113
	Females	39.8±3.6 | Range 34.4–45.5g, N=142

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	B+
Field Codes	2-letter: CR | 5-letter code: CROSS | Euring: 16660

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

The UK breeding population of Crossbills is difficult to assess and is exceptionally variable between years, and the UK BBS trend presented here reflects post-breeding numbers on a wider geographical scale than just the UK. The UK trends are hence likely to reflect irruptive movements from (and to) the continent caused by changes to the cone crop.

Further information on causes of change

The UK breeding population of Crossbills is difficult to assess in any one season, even by special survey, and is exceptionally variable between years. The core of the population lies in the taiga forests across Eurasia, from where birds periodically irrupt westwards and southwards in search of better feeding conditions. After the irregular arrivals into Britain, many thousands of birds may stay to breed, perhaps for a few years, before survivors and their offspring return to the Continent (Newton 2006). The spur to irruptive movements is a failure of the cone crop, especially of Norway spruce Picea abies, which is this species' main food (Summers 1999). Crossbills begin breeding in January, sometimes even earlier, and by the start of the BBS period in April most sightings are of highly mobile family parties. In irruption years, BBS sightings may include many birds from the Continent, which often begin to arrive in late May or during June. The BBS trend therefore reflects post-breeding rather than breeding numbers, and on a wider geographical scale than just the UK. Climate modelling suggests that future range reductions could occur across Europe due to changes in patterns of seed availability (Mezquida et al. 2018).

Information about conservation actions

As the UK population of Crossbills is likely to be driven partly or largely by immigration and emigration, and it is difficult to identify conservation actions targeted specifically at increasing the UK population. Irruptive movements are prompted by shortages of food, in particular Norway spruce cones (Summers 1999), and hence managing the availability of suitable woodlands across the UK is likely to help support the European population of this species, by ensuring that potential sources of food are available in the UK when cone crops fail on continental Europe. Although they are able to feed on Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris when cones are open they cannot access seeds in closed Scots Pine cones, and non-native conifers may be an important food source for Common Crossbills in Britain (for example, Sitka Spruce Picea sitchensis, McNab et al. (2019)).