Birdfinding.info ⇒ Local, endangered, and declining. The remaining stronghold of the species is the Sierra de Bahoruco, where it can be found along the upper elevations of Alcoa Road and at Zapotén. The most reliable site in recent years has been beside Alcoa Road near the park entrance, where groups often visit a water dish to drink and bathe.
Hispaniolan Crossbill
Loxia megaplaga
Endemic to Hispaniola.
A highly localized resident of mature pine forests of the Massif de la Hotte, Massif de la Selle, Sierra de Bahoruco, and patches of the Cordillera Central. The majority of the population persists in the Sierra de Bahoruco
There are several old records from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.
Identification
A large crossbill with a heavy, elongated bill and two broad white wingbars. The only crossbill in the Caribbean.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Males are rose-red on the head and body, usually patchy and uneven and strongest on the breast, crown, and rump.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2015.) © Alan Van Norman
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; March 18, 2015.) © Jason Leifester
Young males are much plainer and show a mix of red, orange, yellow, and brown.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male molting into adult plumage. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; May 17, 2015.) © Tony Pe
Hispaniolan Crossbill, immature male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; February 12, 2018.) © Carlos de Soto Molinari
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; December 15, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; May 17, 2015.) © Tony Pe
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; May 2, 2015.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, male. (Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2015.) © Alan Van Norman
Females are plain with variable amounts of streaking on the back and underparts, and a faint, patchy yellowish or orange wash.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, female. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, female. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, female. (Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2015.) © Alan Van Norman
Hispaniolan Crossbill, female. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, immature male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, immature. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; March 18, 2015.) © Jason Leifester
Hispaniolan Crossbill, immature. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Hispaniolan Crossbill, immature male. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; January 18, 2014.) © Dax M. Román E.
Notes
Monotypic species. Formerly considered a subspecies of White-winged Crossbill.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered.
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Loxia megaplaga. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22720651A131737432. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22720651A131737432.en. (Accessed July 14, 2019.)
Clement, P. 2019. Hispaniolan Crossbill (Loxia megaplaga). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/61412. (Accessed July 14, 2019.)
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed July 14, 2019.)
Hart, J.A. 2009. Hispaniolan Crossbill (Loxia megaplaga), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T.S. Schulenberg, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.hiscro.01.
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.