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Corvid Crossbill
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Maureen Lahiff
It it likely to be avian keratin disorder, thought to be caused by a poecivirus. (Virus named for chickadees.) For a deep dive: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33822149/ An article in the chain mentions American Crows, Maureen Lahiff, Oakland -----Original Message-----
From: Richard Bradus via groups.io <grizzledjay@...> To: SFBirds <sfbirds@groups.io> Sent: Mon, Nov 14, 2022 5:04 pm Subject: [SFBirds] Corvid Crossbill Beautiful day, though quiet bird-wise. Walking along California St. early this afternoon I noticed a few crows warily feeding on some food left out on a wall at the Shell station at the corner with Steiner St. It looked like one of the crows had made off with a piece of something, but when I got a closer look I realized that it had a weird looking beak, actually fully crossed upper and lower mandibles. I wonder if this was a recent deformity (from some trauma?) or a congenital anomaly (seems unlikely - could this bird grow to maturity with such a deformity?). Maybe it isn't really as limiting as it appears?   Never seen a cross-billed crow before! Interestingly, later in the afternoon I was walking down to China Beach and a small flock of actual (Red) Crossbills flew over, calling as they went (maybe headed to Lobos Dunes?). Anyway, weird coincidence I guess. Keep looking up! Richard Bradus San Francisco |
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Richard Bradus
Beautiful day, though quiet bird-wise. Walking along California St. early this afternoon I noticed a few crows warily feeding on some food left out on a wall at the Shell station at the corner with Steiner St. It looked like one of the crows had made off with a piece of something, but when I got a closer look I realized that it had a weird looking beak, actually fully crossed upper and lower mandibles. I wonder if this was a recent deformity (from some trauma?) or a congenital anomaly (seems unlikely - could this bird grow to maturity with such a deformity?). Maybe it isn't really as limiting as it appears?   Never seen a cross-billed crow before! Interestingly, later in the afternoon I was walking down to China Beach and a small flock of actual (Red) Crossbills flew over, calling as they went (maybe headed to Lobos Dunes?). Anyway, weird coincidence I guess. Keep looking up! Richard Bradus San Francisco |
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