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 Special Feature
  
     

Periodically this page will feature a special bird or topic for your education and enjoyment. The current page has been provided by CVAC club member Stan Lilley

 

Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)

     

Photo by Ron Austing

Photo by Stan Lilley

   
 Identification Tips:


  • Length: 5 inches
  • Sharply pointed, yellow, conical bill with black tip.
  • Red forehead
  • black chin
  • Gray back with black streaks
  • Streaked rump
  • Pale underparts with streaked sides and flanks
  • Two Pale wing bars
  • Deeply forked tail

 

2001-02 appears to be an irruption year. Common Redpolls have been seen in Isabella County since at least November 11
     
Common Redpolls have highly variable plumage characteristics. They are named for their red forehead but this is not always obvious, so look instead for the black patch on their chin to recognize them. To identify the sex of Common Redpolls look for the slight tinge of rose on the breast of the male. Common Redpolls fly in flocks of twenty or more in an undulating manner similar to American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins. This is an irruptive species. These irruptions are thought to be tied to the availability (or lack) of wild food on their normal winter range. Most notably, when birch catkins are low in abundance, tremendous numbers of Common Redpolls head south. During irruption years, Common Redpolls often frequent bird feeders. Redpolls are social birds and are always chattering among themselves. As they have little contact with humans across their breeding territory they usually show little fear of humans. Fill feeders with niger or sunflower seeds and they will happily feed and chatter away. Common Redpolls cling to branches, dexterously picking out seeds of alder cones, elms, willows, birches and pines and occasionally going to the ground after those that have dropped. Natural food also consists of buds and seeds of various grasses, berries and small leaves of bushes and trees. Common Redpolls breed further north than almost any other finch, breeding as far north as the northern coast of Alaska. Their breeding habitat consists of the sub-arctic forests as well as shrubby areas and open tundra.

Similar species:
The Hoary Redpoll is very similar to the Common Redpoll but is paler overall and has an unstreaked rump and a smaller bill.