Common Redpoll

The Common Redpoll is a small, energetic finch of the far north, easily recognized by its bright red cap ("poll"), small black chin patch, and streaky brown-and-white body. Males often show a rosy wash on the breast, while females and immatures are more heavily streaked without the pink tones. Despite its tiny size, this species is remarkably cold-hardy, able to survive extreme arctic winter temperatures thanks to physiological adaptations including the ability to store extra seeds in an esophageal pouch for digestion overnight.

Common Redpolls breed across the circumpolar arctic and subarctic and are famous for irruptive winter movements, appearing in large, active flocks at feeders across the northern and sometimes central United States in years when birch and alder seed crops fail farther north.

Key Field Marks

• Small, streaky brown-and-white finch
• Bright red cap on forehead
• Small black chin patch
• Males often show pink wash on breast; females lack it
• Notched tail, small conical yellowish bill

Similar Species

• Hoary Redpoll: paler and "frostier" overall, with a smaller bill, less streaking on the flanks, and an unstreaked or lightly streaked white rump; identification can be difficult and the two may represent ends of a continuum.
• Pine Siskin: lacks the red cap and black chin, and shows yellow in the wings and tail.
• House Finch: lacks the black chin and streaky white underparts pattern of the redpoll.

Habitat

Common Redpolls breed in arctic and subarctic tundra scrub, especially dwarf birch and willow thickets, and in winter frequent weedy fields, alder and birch stands, and backyard feeders offering nyjer or small seeds.

Range

The species breeds across the circumpolar north, including northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Siberia.

Migration

Common Redpolls are classic irruptive migrants, with populations moving unpredictably southward roughly every other winter when seed crops fail in the boreal and arctic zones, sometimes arriving in large, conspicuous flocks far south of the typical range.

Behavior

Highly social, redpolls travel and feed in active, twittering flocks that move quickly between feeding sites, often hanging acrobatically from birch catkins and weed seed heads.

Voice

Calls include a dry rattling "chit-chit-chit" and a rising "swee-eet"; the song combines trills and buzzy notes, often given in flight.

Feeding

Diet is dominated by small seeds, especially birch and alder catkins and weedy annuals, with insects added during the brief arctic summer; redpolls can cache seeds in a throat pouch to eat later in sheltered roosts.

Nesting

Nests are built low in shrubs or on the ground, insulated cups of grass, twigs, and feathers. Females lay 4-7 eggs, and can raise young quickly to take advantage of the short arctic breeding season.