White-winged Crossbill in December

December is the start of the true winter season. Birds are settled into winter ranges and flocking behavior peaks — mixed flocks move through woods and yards together, and feeding stations become social hubs. Short days mean birds must find most of their food in a few hours of daylight.

For the White-winged Crossbill specifically, December is a winter month inside the nesting season — one of the most active and demanding periods of this bird's year. Across the 55 states and provinces where white-winged crossbills occur, what the bird is doing this month depends heavily on latitude — the details below break it down by band.

Southern states

absent

Mid-latitudes

year-round resident

Northern states & Canada

absent

In December, white-winged crossbills are absent in the South, year-round resident across the mid-latitudes, and absent in the northern states and Canada. That north–south split is the defining feature of this month: where you live changes which version of this bird you're looking at.

December is inside the White-winged Crossbill nesting season — about a month earlier in the South and a month later in the North. Nest: cup on a spruce branch; can nest mid-winter. Clutch 2–5 eggs, incubation 12–14 days, 1–2 per season.

The southern nesting season has already wound down, but northern pairs are still raising young — the whole season shifts later as you go north. During the nesting months, adults switch to protein-rich foods for their young, become more secretive around the nest site, and often visit feeders in quick, purposeful trips rather than lingering.

• Conifer seeds; occasional sunflower

Wanders the boreal forest chasing spruce cone crops; nests in any month cones are ripe.

Feeders are busiest at dawn and dusk as birds fuel up against long cold nights. Suet and other high-fat foods earn their keep this month.

Full White-winged Crossbill diet guide → · Best feeder for white-winged crossbills →

In December, the best watching is around food rather than the nest — adults make repeated foraging trips and are most visible at dawn and dusk. Give nesting birds space: if a bird is carrying food or scolding you persistently, you're close to a nest and should back off.

The state guides below show exactly where in your region white-winged crossbills are expected this month and which native plants hold them in a yard.

AlabamaAlaskaAlbertaArkansasBritish ColumbiaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusetts