Common Redpoll Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (2024)

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Common Redpoll Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology? ›

Common Redpolls are brown and white birds with heavily streaked sides. Look for a small red forehead patch, black feathering around a yellow bill, and two white wingbars. Males have a pale red vest on the chest and upper flanks. Redpolls travel in flocks of up to several hundred individuals.

How to identify. The Common (or Mealy) Redpoll is a small finch. It is larger and paler than the very similar Lesser Redpoll. It is streaky brown above and whitish below with black streaks, and shows two white lines on the folded wing.

The European breeding population is estimated at over 13 million pairs. In comparison, very few make it to British & Irish shores, where winter numbers often struggle to reach three figures.

Hoary Redpolls are often paler overall with an even smaller bill than Common Redpolls, but some hoaries can be darker, so care should be taken with ID. They have unstreaked undertail coverts and less streaking on the sides compared to Common Redpolls, which have streaked undertail coverts and heavily streaked sides.

These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.

House Finches, Purple Finches, and Cassin's Finches are all larger than Common Redpolls, have much heavier bills, and lack bold wingbars; unlike the redpolls' small patches of red, the males of these finches have red covering the whole crown and chest.

Nest: Usually very well hidden in dense low shrubs, within a few feet of the ground, sometimes in grass clumps or under brushpiles. Nest (probably built by female) is an open cup of fine twigs, grass, moss, lined with feathers (especially ptarmigan feathers), plant down, or animal hair.

Lesser redpolls and linnets both have similar red markings, however the linnet only displays their red patches during breeding season, whereas the lesser redpoll's colour is a permanent feature.

Redpoll songs are mainly a combination of their call notes given in a long string, lasting up to half a minute.

They will come to bird feeders for smaller seeds such as Proso millet, Nyjer thistle, and hulled sunflower seeds. Do not mistake them for the male House Finch which is much larger and their entire upper bodies are red. If you see Redpolls at your feeders, the first thing you will notice is how tame they are.

How big is a common redpoll? ›

Common Redpolls are busy, acrobatic little finches, spending much of their time flitting about, feeding, and calling with their incessant calls. They are a very small finch, with typical conical, pointed bill; length 12-14 cm; mass 11-20 g.

The genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now unidentifiable bird. All redpolls are northern breeding woodland species, associated with birch trees (although there are introduced populations in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand, and nearby subantarctic islands).

Males often have their breasts suffused with red. It is smaller, browner and more streaked than the generally similar Arctic redpoll, adults measuring between 11.5 and 14 centimetres (4.5 and 5.5 in) in length and weighing between 12 and 16 grams (0.42 and 0.56 oz). Wingspan ranges from 7.5 to 8.7 in (19-22 cm).

The female redpoll builds nests of conifer and birch in a tree or bush. Breeding starts around May with 2-7 eggs being laid. After an incubation period of around 10-15 days, the young then fledge after 9-15 days.

“Based on the samples of DNA we examined for Common and Hoary Redpoll, they're probably best treated as a single species,” Mason says.

h. hornemanni) lives in far northern Greenland and neighboring Canada. It was named for Danish botanist Jens Wilken Hornemann, who described many new plants in the early 1800s. Hoary Redpolls usually nest in small willows or other shrubs in the few sheltered spots scattered in the open tundra.

Whitish overall with small red cap, black chin, and frosted white back. Males show faint pink wash on breast. Can be very difficult to separate from Common Redpoll; some are best left unidentified. Look for whiter color overall, especially on rump, undertail coverts, and flanks.

The common redpoll or mealy redpoll (Acanthis flammea) is a species of bird in the finch family. It breeds somewhat further south than the Arctic redpoll, also in habitats with thickets or shrubs.