Common Redpoll

A huge leap from the two tropical photos from Trinidad that I posted yesterday! On 4 March 2018, it was such a beautiful winter's day, and I decided to join seven friends for a walk down into Weaselhead in the afternoon. The previous day, a birding walk had been cancelled because the weather was so bad and the long, steep hill down to river level was very icy. It is almost unheard of for a birding walk to be cancelled! The roads were not in good condition especially the residential streets. I have lived in this city for 40 years and I don't remember ever seeing this much snow on the ground. Just crazy.

There were not a whole lot of birds to be seen on this walk, but it is always a delight to see the dainty little Common Redpolls. This female had a rather orangy coloured spot on her forehead, rather than the usual red/deep pink. I seem to remember that last winter, there were no Redpolls to be seen. Nice to see a beautiful lone Coyote travelling across the frozen, snow-covered Elbow River.

Coffee at Tim Horton's afterwards was enjoyable, as always. Thanks for a great walk, Janet, Bernie and Stephen! I always appreciate your giving up your Sunday afternoon for the rest of us.

"As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.

Some studies show that in winter, redpolls subsist almost entirely on a diet of birch seeds. They eat up to 42 percent of their body mass every day. They can store up to about 2 grams (0.07 oz.) of seeds in a stretchy part of their esophagus, enough for about a quarter of their daily energy requirement.

A few banding records have shown that some Common Redpolls are incredibly wide ranging. Among them, a 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.

Common Redpolls can survive temperatures of –65 degrees Fahrenheit. A study in Alaska found Redpolls put on about 31 percent more plumage by weight in November than they did in July." Bits and pieces taken from AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/overview