Cassia Crossbill
A species of Crossbills Scientific name : Loxia sinesciuris Genus : Crossbills
Cassia Crossbill, A species of Crossbills
Botanical name: Loxia sinesciuris
Genus: Crossbills
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Don Roberson 
Description
The Cassia crossbill shares many physical features with the red crossbill and all of its different call types. Adult males display a brick red plumage along its crown, breast, and belly, while its flight feathers have a brown colour. In contrast, adult females have an overall dull green or olive-yellow colour, with brown flight feathers. Its defining feature, a crossed bill, is a crisscrossed bill used to access the pine cone seeds. However, in relation to the red crossbill call types, the Cassia crossbill has a deeper and thicker bill to crack open the harder pine cones in its habitat. Its body mass ranges from 29.2–43.9 g, while its wing length 85.0–100.0 mm and bill depth 8.90–10.56 mm. 
Size
13 - 23 cm
Nest Placement
Tree
Clutch Size
2 - 6 eggs
Number of Broods
12 - 16 days
Nestling Period
15 - 25 days
Feeding Habits
The Cassia crossbill will exclusively forage for lodgepole pine cones that are found in the South Hills and Albion Mountains region. A primary reason why this species of crossbill can exist in such a small area and on a singular food source is due to the lack of squirrels, the usual primary seed dispersal of the lodgepole pine. As a result, serotinous cones are especially abundant in this region, which allows cones with seeds to accumulate in high quantities that will last for decades. This has led to a coevolutionary arms race between the crossbill and lodgepole pine, as the Cassia crossbill is the primary selective agent. In result, the lodgepole pine are creating cones with thick-scaled cones, whilst the crossbills have evolved deeper bills to counter this. The seeds of younger serotinous cones (1–10 years) are harder for the crossbill to pry open due to them being strongly bonded together. It is the older and weathered cones that are more readily accessible as the scales begin to separate. The Cassia crossbill will mainly eat seeds from cones on the pine tree itself, but fallen cones are also foraged on as well. The crossbill will use its beak to pry the cone open and then it will use its tongue to obtain the seed. The crossbill will then use a groove inside its mouth to shell the seed to eventually eat it.
Dite type
Granivorous
General Info
Distribution Area
The Cassia crossbill is found year-round exclusively in the forests of the South Hills and Albion Mountains in South Idaho. Compared to its counterpart, the red crossbill, which is a global species, the total area the Cassia crossbill resides in equates to about 67 km². They are almost exclusively found in mature and old-growth lodgepole pine dominated forests that do not have Red Squirrels as their beak is adapted for a specific type of pine cone. This has led to a coevolutionary arms race with the lodgepole pine, which explains why they are confined in such a small area. Other Red Crossbill call types, typically call type 2 & 5, are also found in these areas, but seldom breed here due to being poorly adapted to the pine cone structure. Due to their restricted range and habitat, there is a cause for concern for this species survival.
Species Status
The current total population estimation is ≈5,800 individuals. Since the Cassia crossbill is a new species, the conservation status of this species has not been assessed yet. However, under the IUCN Red list criteria, it qualifies to be considered critically endangered due to its limited home range, small population and probable habitat degradation. A major threat to the crossbill is climate change. The cumulative hot weather (>32 °C) can result into the early dispersal of the pine cone seeds, thus limiting the food availability for the crossbill. Because of warmer weather, another threat are mountain pine bark beetle infestations. They will burrow in the pine trees and subsequently killing them, which can further exacerbate the food security problem for these birds. The potential for large fires increases every year due to climate change, which can prove disastrous for the crossbills if a significant portion of the pine trees die. It is projected that the lodgepole pines will disappear from the South Hills and Albion Mountains by the end of the century. The species may already lose potentially half its population due to the pending consequences of the 2020 Western United States wildfires, one of which engulfed a large portion of the South Hills, one of the only two strongholds for the bird.
Photo By Don Roberson 
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Finches Genus
Crossbills Species
Cassia Crossbill 
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