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Thank you, Blake, for such terrific information re Redpolls. Very helpful in trying to sort them out. We have a question. Why are there so few adult males, at least in the flocks we are observing around our house? I would guess there are about one in twenty-five that are at all pink-breasted. Are other people finding the same proportion? The Sibley site you gave, Blake, mentioned that the white feather edges wear away from the fresh fall plumage to reveal more pink as the winter progresses, so I guess that is a possible answer. Any other suggestions? We may have had 3 of the 4 subspecies today in our flock of about 100. I saw a pale bird high up in the trees, near two other darker ones, but never got a closer look. Don saw a large dark one, which may have been a Greater Common Redpoll. From now on we'll be watching closely, with better information to judge by! Lois Codling L. Sackville Blake Maybank wrote: > At 02:58 PM 01/01/2008, Jane wrote: >> I've been trying to see if I could find a hoary among "our" big flock >> of common redpolls. I noticed that someone on this list said he >> looked for a BIGGER bird. Well, our (old edition) Peterson says the >> hoary is SMALLER than the common (4 1/2 -5 1/2 for the hornemanni and >> 5-5 1/2 for the flammea)! Pat Mackay looked in her Sibley, and it >> also said the hoary was a bit bigger than the common. Our Burrows >> book also says the hoary is bigger. Wow. Did Roger Tory Peterson >> actually make a mistake?? The illustration in our Burrows shows the >> side of the hoary's head (lores and auricular) to be very light. >> What have you experts found? > > This seems an opportune time to forward the following superb redpoll > analysis, that first appeared on the Birding ID Frontiers discussion > group. It may not make separating the different redpolls any easier, > but at least you will now have information to hand. The author is Ron > Pittaway. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > The Redpoll Challenge: This is a major redpoll winter in southern > Canada and the United States. The legendary George North of Hamilton, > Ontario, once saw all four North American redpoll subspecies in the > same flock on 23 March 1958 near Hamilton (North 1983, Curry 2006). > Fifty years later this could be the winter to do it again. On 15 > December 2007, Ron and Doug Tozer found a big "snowball" Hornemann's" > Hoary Redpoll (nominate hornemanni) on the Minden Christmas Bird > Count. This is the rarest redpoll in southern Canada. On 14 December > 2007, I saw two "Greater" Common Redpolls (rostrata) at our feeders in > Toronto and there have been several other recent reports. With these > two High Arctic subspecies and probably record numbers of "Southern" > Hoary Redpolls (exilipes) in flocks of "Southern" Common Redpoll > (nominate flammea), we have all four North American subspecies in > southern Ontario this winter. Below I summarize the basic information > needed to understand and identify redpolls with links to photos. > > Taxonomy: The American Ornithologists' Union (1998) recognizes two > species: Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) and Hoary Redpoll (C. > hornemanni). Each has two subspecies (races) breeding in North > America. Discussion about lumping or splitting redpolls has been off > the "radar screen" in recent years. The four subspecies are described > below. > > 1. "Southern" Common Redpoll (nominate flammea): This is the commonest > of the four subspecies in southern Ontario. It is the standard to > which the other three are compared. In most plumages, it is noticeably > streaked on the sides, undertail coverts and rump. However, adult > males in winter have more contrasting whiter rumps (fewer streaks and > often pinkish) than on worn breeding birds. Adult males are > pink-breasted. First year males are somewhat darker and often washed > with light pink. Adult females usually lack pink (sometimes tinged) > and first year females are the darkest and most heavily streaked of > the four age/sex classes. > > 2. "Greater" Common Redpoll (rostrata): This large and dark subspecies > breeds on Baffin Island and Greenland. Greater Redpolls are a winter > visitor in small numbers to the southern parts of eastern Canada from > Ontario to Newfoundland (Godfrey 1986) and to the northeastern United > States. Greaters are more frequent than Hoarys in some winters > (Pittaway 1992). The Greater is larger (averages 14.0 cm compared to > 12.5 cm for flammea) and heavier. Other field marks are the Greater's > thicker bill and somewhat darker and browner coloration with > conspicuous heavy streaking on the underparts usually extending to the > undertail coverts. Adult male Greaters have "red of underparts less > extensive and less intense" than flammea (Godfrey 1986). Males lack > red on the malar area, which flammea males usually have (Beadle and > Rising 2006). Some observers describe Greaters as House Finch-like. > See the excellent identification article on Greater Redpoll by Beadle > and Henshaw (1996) in Birders Journal 5(1):44-47, illustrated by > Beadle. The differences between the two Common Redpoll subspecies are > usually obvious when the two are together for comparison (Peterson 1947). > > 3. "Southern" Hoary Redpoll (exilipes): This subspecies breeds in the > Low Arctic and much of its range overlaps that of the "Southern" > Common Redpoll (flammea). It is the much commoner Hoary subspecies, > and is similar in size to the flammea Common Redpoll. During redpoll > flight years, it is usually possible to find a few classic adult male > exilipes Hoarys. Compared to the "Southern" Common Redpoll, they are > more frosted with white rumps, have lightly streaked flanks and very > lightly streaked to pure white undertail coverts. Adult females and > especially first year females can be noticeably streaked. Exilipes > Hoary is similar in size to flammea Common, but may look slightly > larger because of its whiter plumage. Hoarys have shorter, more obtuse > (stubby) bills imparting a distinctive "pushed in face" appearance. > Many females are identifiable by overall paler coloration and bill > shape. Individuals appearing intermediate between exilipes and flammea > are best left unidentified. > > 4. "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (nominate hornemanni): This is the > largest, palest and rarest redpoll. Hornemann's breeds in the Canadian > High Arctic Islands and Greenland and is a great rarity in southern > Ontario and Quebec. Hornemann's is larger (averages 14.0 cm) than > "Southern" Hoary (exilipes) which averages 12.5 cm. It is whiter with > less streaking on the sides and flanks and has immaculate white &