Common Redpoll

Carduelis flammeaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll: Small finch, brown-streaked gray upperparts, bright rose-pink breast, boldly streaked flanks and undertail coverts. Red cap and black chin. Bill is olive-brown with fine black tip. Wings are dark with two narrow white bars; tail is black and notched. Black legs, feet.

● Song: "chit-chit-chit-chit", "swe-ee-et"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Redpoll: Eats seeds and insects; forages chickadee-like, clinging to branch tips and weed tops for seeds, mainly from birches, alders, willows, and weeds. Also forages on the ground; reported to enter holes in snow to find food when vegetation is covered.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Redpoll: Four to seven green or blue green eggs, with purple or red brown spots concentrated at larger end, are laid in a nest made of moss, feathers, plant material, and animal fur lined with twigs and grass, and hidden in dense low shrubs or rock crevices. Incubation ranges from 10 to 11 days and is carried out by the female. Young stay in nest 9 to14 days and are fed mostly by the female; have one or two broods per year.

● Similar species: Common Redpoll: Hoary Redpoll is paler and has smaller bill and faint streaks on rump, sides, and flanks. Hoary Redpoll breast is paler pink and restricted to sides.

Flight Pattern

Moves relentlessly in undulating flight, with series of rapid wing beats alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.

Common Redpoll Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Common Redpoll: Breeds from Alaska and northern Quebec, south to British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Magdalen Islands. Spends winters irregularly south to California, Oklahoma, and the Carolinas; also found in Eurasia. Inhabits open subarctic areas, largely coniferous forests and scrub; avoids dense forests. Winters on brushy pastures, open thickets, and weedy fields.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester, Loose colonies

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll

Flight Pattern