- Acanthis flammea
Carduelis flammea
Identification
11.5-14 cm (4½-5½ in)
Adult
- Streaky finch with pale feather edges
- Red forehead and crown
- Black lores and chin
- Dark eye line
- Pale supercilium
- Cheeks darker gray than the rest of the head and nape
- Two wing bars
- Grey flight and tail feathers with buff-colored edges
- Pale rump streaked with gray
- Whitish breast, flanks, and belly
- Variable amount of streaking on the breast and flanks
- Males have a variable amount of rose wash across the upper breast that is absent in females
- Sharply pointed yellow bill with a black tip and culmen
Juvenile
- Similar to adult but lacks red
- Buff wing bars
Similar Species
Hoary Redpoll is larger and paler with shorter, thicker bill and usually more extensive thigh feathering. Undertail coverts usually unstreaked. Lesser Redpoll smaller, darker and more heavily streaked. Some individuals not safely identified.
Distribution
Breeds in the northern parts of the New and Old Worlds. Winter range extends farther south, but is not very predictable. An irruptive species, this bird can be abundant in places some winters and completely absent in other winters. Birds ringed in Norway have been recovered in China just north of the border of North Korea, about 4000 km away from Troms County.
Taxonomy
Formerly placed in genus Carduelis. Lesser Redpoll formerly included in this species. A. f. islandica considered a synonym of A. f. rostrata by Clement (2018)[3], Gill & Donsker (2018)[7], and Christides et al (2014)[6]. However its validity confirmed by Amouret et al. (2015)[2] and accepted by Clements et al. (2018)[1]. A genetic study by Mason & Taylor (2015)[5] found that phenotypic variation in all Redpolls is a result of RNA expressing plumage differences without actual differences in DNA. They advocate lumping all the Redpolls into a single species[8], but their recommendation has not yet been adopted by major taxonomic authorities.
Subspecies
There are three subspecies:[1]
- A. f. flammea - Small and dark.
- Northern Eurasia and northern North America
- A. f. rostrata - Large and dark
- Northern Labrador, Baffin Island and southern Greenland; winters to north-eastern North America and British Isles
- A. f. islandica - Similar to A. f. rostrata but smaller and with paler rump.
- Iceland
Habitat
Coniferous and birch woodlands.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes small seeds.
Breeding
It builds an open cup nest from twigs, rootlets and grasses, lined with thick layer of feathers or hair. 4-6 greenish white to pale blue, spotted with purple at large end, eggs are laid.
Vocalisation
Song usually single or repeated calls in short combinations: especially chatter and rattle calls che, che, che, tschrrrr, repeated. Common Redpoll voice clip
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Amouret, J., Steinauer, K., Hallgrimsson, G.T. & Pálsson, S. (2015) Evolutionary status of Icelandic Redpolls Carduelis flammea islandica (Aves, Passeriformes, Fringillidae). J. Orn. 156(4): 1035–1048. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2015.1125850
- Clement, P. (2018). Redpoll (Acanthis flammea). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/61363 on 10 September 2018).
- Knox, A. G. and P. E. Lowther (2000). Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.543
- Mason, N.A. & Taylor, S.A. (2015) Differentially expressed genes match bill morphology and plumage despite largely undifferentiated genomes in a Holarctic songbird. Mol. Ecol. 24(12): 3009–3025.
- Christidis et al. 2014. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, version 4.1 (Downloadable checklist). Accessed 11 September 2018 from https://www.howardandmoore.org/
- Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2018. IOC World Bird List (v8.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.8.2. Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- All About Birds
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Common Redpoll. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Redpoll
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
