It has been a good winter in the south for seeing redpolls. Despite being small, redpolls are content to winter in the frigid north as long as the food holds out. When it doesn’t, they head south. Last Friday I saw a flock of a few hundred. Indeed, in one picture shot into its midst, I counted a 150 birds, and many more were outside the frame.
Birders have fun watching redpolls. There are two different species: Common Redpolls and Hoary Redpolls (accustomed to even bleaker arctic conditions). Further, both show sexual dimorphism: the males and females look somewhat different. I will guess at some of these variations, below, and have labeled pictures to make for easy commenting.
A portion of a flock of redpolls—mainly Common Redpolls with a few Hoary Redpolls mixed in.
(1) A female Common Redpoll has been eating tansy seeds.
(2) A male Common Redpoll (showing a much pinker breast)
(3) Some Hoary Redpolls (the ones with the fainter streaking on the sides and white butt)
(4) So, what is this?
