FUN FACTS ABOUT COMMON REDPOLLS

Common RedpollDid you know that Common Redpolls can travel great distances?  For example, a Common Redpoll, banded in Michigan, was subsequently recovered in eastern Siberia.

APPEARANCE:

  • Common Redpolls have small heads and petite, pointed, seed-eating bills
  • The tail of the Common Redpoll is short, with a small notch at the tip
  • General coloration of the Common Redpoll is brown and white, with streaked sides and two white wing bars
  • They have a small red patch on their forehead, with feathering around a yellow bill.
  • Males, of the Common Redpoll species, have a pale pinkish-red “vest” on the chest and upper flanks

BEHAVIOR:

  • Common Redpolls are animated birds that forage in flocks
  • In order to keep order in their flocks, they will exhibit behaviors that signal their intentions.  For instance, if a Common Redpoll is arguing with a flock mate, it will fluff its plumage, face its adversary, and open its bill, in addition to sometimes jutting its chin, so that the black face patch is displayed
  • During migration, flock sizes may be in the thousands.  At other times their flocks are small
  • In order to protect themselves from the elements, Common Redpolls may roost in tunnels under the insulating snow, which is much warmer than being exposed directly to the elements

SONG:

  • The call notes of the Common Redpoll are sharp, buzzy sounds and energetic trills and chatters
  • Their songs are mainly a string of their call notes, which can last up to half a minute

RANGE/HABITAT:

  • The breeding ground of the Common Redpoll is in the far northern latitudes worldwide, up to about 5,000 feet
  • They live in open woods (pine, spruce, alder, birch, and willow).  In locations where there are no trees, such areas of tundra, they will find hollows and sheltered areas where deciduous shrubs and conifers can gain a foothold
  • Common Redpolls will also live around more urban areas
  • When they move south in the winter, their range can be quite variable, depending upon food sources.  However, in their winter range, they can be found in open woodlands, scrubby and weedy fields, and at backyard feeders

FOOD:

  • Common Redpolls eat up to 42% of their body mass every day
  • Throughout the year, Common Redpolls eat small seeds, mainly from birch, willow, alder, spruces, and pines
  • They will also eat seeds from grasses, sedges, and wildflowers, such as buttercups, mustard, and occasionally berries
  • During the summer, Common Redpolls will eat spiders and insects, in addition to seeds
  • Common Redpolls will quickly gather numerous whole seeds and store them in an expandable section of their throat called the diverticulum
  • Once they have flown to the safety of dense cover they will regurgitate the whole seed, husk it and then re-swallow the nut meat
  • They will also fill the diverticulum with seed just before the onset of darkness in order to provide an extra source of energy to help them survive the night

NESTING:

  • Courting males will fly in slow circles, calling and singing at the same time
  • Males may feed the female when they are courting them
  • The female Common Redpoll does most of the searching for nesting sites
  • Nests tend to be placed close to the ground, or on tundra/low growing ground cover, driftwood, or rock ledges 
  • Common Redpolls may recycle materials from old nests, but, typically build a new nest every year 
  • Females will build the nest on a base of twigs, which are laid across small branches, or in the crotches of spruce trees, alders and willows. 
  • Grasses, fine twigs, roots, and tree moss make up the nest 
  • The lining of the nest may be a thick layer of ptarmigan or Spruce Grouse feathers, or, perhaps, hair, lemming fur, wool, or downy plant material 
  • The completed nest dimensions are approximately 2.5” in diameter and 2” deep
  • Clutch Size:  2-7 eggs 
  • Number of Broods:  1-3 broods
  • Egg Length:  0.6 - 0.8 in 
  • Egg Width:  0.4 - 0.6 in
  • Incubation Period:  11 days 
  • Nestling Period:  9 – 16 days
  • Egg Appearance:  Color ranges from pale green to pale blue, spotted with purple 
  • Condition of Hatching:  Naked and helpless

ATTRACTING COMMON REDPOLLS TO YOUR YARD:

  • The Common Redpoll will eat seeds that are of a compatible size to their small bills
  • A number of foods that the Common Redpoll will eat in a backyard habitat are Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Hulled Sunflower Seeds, and Nyjer
  • Generally speaking, they will eat from large and small tube feeders, large and small hopper feeders, platform feeders, and off of the ground

OTHER FUN COMMON REDPOLL FACTS:

  • The oldest recorded Common Redpoll was, at least seven years old
  • Globally, the population of the Common Redpoll is estimated to be in the millions
  • A study in Alaska documented that Common Redpolls could survive temperatures of -65°F and have 32% more plumage, by weight in November, than they did in July
  • Irruptive migrations of Common Redpolls and Purple Finches typically occur every two years or so.

Image by JT