The Common Redpoll

Although many of us rarely get to see these darling little birds worldwide their numbers are estimated in the tens of millions. Common Redpolls are a member of the winter finches, a group of finches that includes the redpolls, pine siskins, crossbills, and Pine and evening grosbeaks. This group breed in northern Canada, and are for the most part only seen in southern, more populated areas during the winter when these birds irrupt into areas south of their usual range. With common redpolls, this behavior seems to take place every second year and is linked to the production of catkins on birch and alder. A poor crop causes them to move out of their northern range in search of better sources.

Small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest The range of the common redpoll extends through northern Europe and Asia to northern North America, Greenland, and Iceland. In Canada, they are resident birds in the 3 territories Their breeding area takes them further north in those territories and over to Newfoundland and Labrador. They also breed throughout Alaska and around the world in the lands that ring the Arctic Ocean.
This beautiful little finch measures just 4.7-5.5 inches, has a small head and short, pointed, seed-eating yellow bill with some black feathering. The tail is short with a small notch at the tip. There is a red patch on their forehead, they have two white wing bars, and are brown and white with heavy streaking. This streaky plumage is quite similar looking to Pine Siskin
Only Adult male redpolls have the reddish tinge on their chest. This is a great mark to use when identifying the sex of common redpolls. A more difficult bird to tell a common redpoll from is the Hoary Redpoll. Hoary's tend to be paler, with less streaking and a smaller bill.

Common Redpolls survive almost entirely on a diet of birch seeds. They also eat many other seeds of willows, alders, and spruce. In addition to seeds, large numbers of spiders and insects are consumed too over summer. Each day they can eat up 42 percent of their body mass.
It's incredible how the Redpoll survives such cold temperatures which is largely thanks to the thick coats of down they grow before the winter season.

Their buzzy sounds and energetic trills and chatters are almost constantly used and can be used to help locate an energetic flock. They are quite acrobatic and can be seen often hanging upside down from an alder cone as they forage. Outside of the breeding season, they are very social, often seen in small groups and flocks with upwards of 50 individuals.

The oldest known wild Common Redpoll was at least 7 years, 10 months old. It lived in Alaska. In Europe, there was apparently a redpoll who lived 25 years in captivity. Remarkably these little birds can be rather wide-ranging as a few banding records have shown. One bird banded in Michigan was recovered in Siberia; others in Alaska have been recovered in the eastern U.S., and a redpoll banded in Belgium was found 2 years later in China.

Try attracting them to your garden by planting birch trees, since these produce their favorite food. Alders too can attract them, as do willows, elm, pine, and some berry trees.
They will happily take advantage of feeders with niger and sunflower seeds, or suet.

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