[NatureNS] Re: redpoll question

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From: Rob Woods <rrtwoods@yahoo.com>
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Thanks Blake, excellent information.

I would say I have have had 3 of the subspecies aswell. I am assuming some greaters just because I have had some commons with noticable size difference. I have had 25 to 50 redpolls in my yard over most of december and have my niger feeder next to my window so get great views. I may try for some pictures next weekend.

I have noticed that there is less pink on the chests now vs the beginning of the winter season but still have a fair number of birds with pink on the chests.

Rob Woods
Georgefield.


----- Original Message ----
From: Roland McCormick <roland.mccormick@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 9:03:21 PM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Re: redpoll question

My observations have been the same - very few of the redpoles have pink 
breasts - in a flock of a hundred you may find three or four with pink on 
their breast, and perhaps one that is a lighter colour.

Roland.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lois Codling" <loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 8:13 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] Re: redpoll question


> 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 undertail 
>> coverts. Adult males have less pink than exilipes, some showing only a 
>> trace of pink suffusion on the breast. Females and first year birds are 
>> recognizable if compared directly to the two small subspecies, flammea 
>> and exilipes, by their larger size. See the excellent article on redpoll 
>> identification by Czaplak (1995) in Birding 27(6):446-457. His photo of 
>> Hornemann's on page 448 is correctly identified in my opinion. Note 
>> larger size of the Hornemann's in the photo in American Birds 42(2):239, 
>> which is reproduced on Jean's website link below. See also Doug Tozer's 
>> photo and Ron Tozer's detailed description of the recent Ontario 
>> "Hornemann's" on Jean Iron's website link below. See David Sibley's 
>> website link below.
>>
>> A. Why is there so much plumage variation in redpolls?  A flock of one 
>> subspecies of the Common Redpoll (flammea) will show four plumage types: 
>> adult males, adult females, first year males and first year females. 
>> Since there are four redpoll subspecies, a large flock potentially could 
>> have 16 plumage types, plus considerable individual variation.
>>
>> B. What is the Greenland Redpoll? Historically, the name Greenland has 
>> NOT been used in North America to describe the rostrata "Greater" Common 
>> Redpoll (Peterson 1947, Todd 1963, Bent 1968, Terres 1991, etc.). 
>> However, Greenland Redpoll is the European name for "Greater" Common 
>> Redpoll (Newton 1972, Jonsson 1993, etc.). Most North American 
>> publications use Greenland Redpoll for "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (Nash 
>> 1905, Macoun and Macoun 1909, Taverner 1953, North 1983, etc.). The name 
>> Greenland causes confusion. Most of our Hornemann's Hoary Redpolls and 
>> Greater Common Redpolls are coming from Canada, not Greenland. To avoid 
>> confusion, it is preferable to include the subspecies scientific name 
>> after the common name, particularly when first mentioned: (flammea), 
>> (rostrata), (hornemanni) and (exilipes).
>>
>> TAKE THE REDPOLL CHALLENGE: This is the first winter in decades to match 
>> George North's Ontario record of four redpoll subspecies in one day. Even 
>> more amazing, all four were in the same flock. I am not aware that 
>> North's record has been matched in southern Canada or the northern United 
>> States. However, Roland C. Clement saw all four subspecies on 12 March 
>> 1944 at Indian House Lake in northern Quebec (Lat 56 15' 0 N, Long 64 42' 
>> 0 W) south of Ungava Bay close to Labrador. Clement in Todd (1963) 
>> reported "a feeding flock of mixed migrants that contained ten rostrata, 
>> thirty flammea, two hornemanni, and about six exilipes."
>>
>> Three websites with redpoll information and photos.
>> Jean Iron < http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/Redpolls/index.htm>
>> Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station in Toronto < 
>> http://www.ttpbrs.ca/>
>> David Sibley < http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/> Scroll down to Tuesday 
>> December 4.
>>
>> Acknowledgements: I thank Michel Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of 
>> Nature for information on redpoll taxonomy and identification. Doug Tozer 
>> kindly provided his photo of the recent Minden "Hornemann's" Redpoll. 
>> Jean Iron and Ron Tozer made many helpful suggestions.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 
>> 269.17.13/1205 - Release Date: 31/12/2007 3:32 PM
>>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 
> 269.17.13/1206 - Release Date: 1/1/2008 12:09 PM
>


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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Thanks Blake, excellent information.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">I would say I have have had 3 of the subspecies aswell. I am assuming some greaters just because I have had some commons with noticable size difference. I have had 25 to 50 redpolls in my yard over most of december and have my niger feeder next to my window so get great views. I may try for some pictures next weekend.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">I have noticed that there is less pink on the chests now vs the beginning of the winter season but still have a fair number of birds with pink on the chests.</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Rob Woods</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Georgefield.<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">----- Original Message ----<BR>From: Roland McCormick &lt;roland.mccormick@ns.sympatico.ca&gt;<BR>To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<BR>Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 9:03:21 PM<BR>Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Re: redpoll question<BR><BR>My observations have been the same - very few of the redpoles have pink <BR>breasts - in a flock of a hundred you may find three or four with pink on <BR>their breast, and perhaps one that is a lighter colour.<BR><BR>Roland.<BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Lois Codling" &lt;loiscodling@hfx.eastlink.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca&gt;<BR>Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 8:13 PM<BR>Subject: [NatureNS] Re: redpoll question<BR><BR><BR>&gt; Thank you, Blake, for such terrific information re Redpolls.&nbsp; Very helpful <BR>&gt; in trying to sort them out.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; We have a question.&nbsp; Why are there so few adult males, at least in the <BR>&gt; flocks we are observing around our house?&nbsp; I would guess there are about <BR>&gt; one in twenty-five that are at all pink-breasted.&nbsp; Are other people <BR>&gt; finding the same proportion?&nbsp; The Sibley site you gave, Blake, mentioned <BR>&gt; that the white feather edges wear away from the fresh fall plumage to <BR>&gt; reveal more pink as the winter progresses, so I guess that is a possible <BR>&gt; answer.&nbsp; Any other suggestions?<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; We may have had 3 of the 4 subspecies today in our flock of about 100.&nbsp; I <BR>&gt; saw a pale bird high up in the trees, near two other darker ones, but <BR>&gt; never got a closer look.&nbsp; Don saw a large dark one, which may have been a <BR>&gt; Greater Common Redpoll.&nbsp; From now on we'll be watching closely, with <BR>&gt; better information to judge by!<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Lois Codling<BR>&gt; L. Sackville<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Blake Maybank wrote:<BR>&gt;&gt; At 02:58 PM 01/01/2008, Jane wrote:<BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; I've been trying to see if I could find a hoary among "our" big flock of <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; common redpolls.&nbsp; I noticed that someone on this list said he looked for <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; a BIGGER bird.&nbsp; Well, our (old edition) Peterson says the hoary is <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; SMALLER than the common (4 1/2 -5 1/2 for the hornemanni and 5-5 1/2 for <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; the flammea)!&nbsp; Pat Mackay looked in her Sibley, and it also said the <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; hoary was a bit bigger than the common.&nbsp; Our Burrows book also says the <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; hoary is bigger.&nbsp; Wow.&nbsp; Did Roger Tory Peterson actually make a <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; mistake??&nbsp; The illustration in our Burrows shows the side of the hoary's <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; head (lores and auricular) to be very light.&nbsp; What have you experts <BR>&gt;&gt;&gt; found?<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; This seems an opportune time to forward the following superb redpoll <BR>&gt;&gt; analysis, that first appeared on the Birding ID Frontiers discussion <BR>&gt;&gt; group.&nbsp; It may not make separating the different redpolls any easier, <BR>&gt;&gt; but at least you will now have information to hand.&nbsp; The author is Ron <BR>&gt;&gt; Pittaway.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; ------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; The Redpoll Challenge: This is a major redpoll winter in southern Canada <BR>&gt;&gt; and the United States. The legendary George North of Hamilton, Ontario, <BR>&gt;&gt; once saw all four North American redpoll subspecies in the same flock on <BR>&gt;&gt; 23 March 1958 near Hamilton (North 1983, Curry 2006). Fifty years later <BR>&gt;&gt; this could be the winter to do it again. On 15 December 2007, Ron and <BR>&gt;&gt; Doug Tozer found a big "snowball" Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (nominate <BR>&gt;&gt; hornemanni) on the Minden Christmas Bird Count. This is the rarest <BR>&gt;&gt; redpoll in southern Canada. On 14 December 2007, I saw two "Greater" <BR>&gt;&gt; Common Redpolls (rostrata) at our feeders in Toronto and there have been <BR>&gt;&gt; several other recent reports. With these two High Arctic subspecies and <BR>&gt;&gt; probably record numbers of "Southern" Hoary Redpolls (exilipes) in flocks <BR>&gt;&gt; of "Southern" Common Redpoll (nominate flammea), we have all four North <BR>&gt;&gt; American subspecies in southern Ontario this winter. Below I summarize <BR>&gt;&gt; the basic information needed to understand and identify redpolls with <BR>&gt;&gt; links to photos.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; Taxonomy: The American Ornithologists' Union (1998) recognizes two <BR>&gt;&gt; species: Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) and Hoary Redpoll (C. <BR>&gt;&gt; hornemanni). Each has two subspecies (races) breeding in North America. <BR>&gt;&gt; Discussion about lumping or splitting redpolls has been off the "radar <BR>&gt;&gt; screen" in recent years. The four subspecies are described below.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; 1. "Southern" Common Redpoll (nominate flammea): This is the commonest of <BR>&gt;&gt; the four subspecies in southern Ontario. It is the standard to which the <BR>&gt;&gt; other three are compared. In most plumages, it is noticeably streaked on <BR>&gt;&gt; the sides, undertail coverts and rump. However, adult males in winter <BR>&gt;&gt; have more contrasting whiter rumps (fewer streaks and often pinkish) than <BR>&gt;&gt; on worn breeding birds. Adult males are pink-breasted. First year males <BR>&gt;&gt; are somewhat darker and often washed with light pink. Adult females <BR>&gt;&gt; usually lack pink (sometimes tinged) and first year females are the <BR>&gt;&gt; darkest and most heavily streaked of the four age/sex classes.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; 2. "Greater" Common Redpoll (rostrata): This large and dark subspecies <BR>&gt;&gt; breeds on Baffin Island and Greenland. Greater Redpolls are a winter <BR>&gt;&gt; visitor in small numbers to the southern parts of eastern Canada from <BR>&gt;&gt; Ontario to Newfoundland (Godfrey 1986) and to the northeastern United <BR>&gt;&gt; States. Greaters are more frequent than Hoarys in some winters (Pittaway <BR>&gt;&gt; 1992). The Greater is larger (averages 14.0 cm compared to 12.5 cm for <BR>&gt;&gt; flammea) and heavier. Other field marks are the Greater's thicker bill <BR>&gt;&gt; and somewhat darker and browner coloration with conspicuous heavy <BR>&gt;&gt; streaking on the underparts usually extending to the undertail coverts. <BR>&gt;&gt; Adult male Greaters have "red of underparts less extensive and less <BR>&gt;&gt; intense" than flammea (Godfrey 1986). Males lack red on the malar area, <BR>&gt;&gt; which flammea males usually have (Beadle and Rising 2006). Some observers <BR>&gt;&gt; describe Greaters as House Finch-like. See the excellent identification <BR>&gt;&gt; article on Greater Redpoll by Beadle and Henshaw (1996) in Birders <BR>&gt;&gt; Journal 5(1):44-47, illustrated by Beadle. The differences between the <BR>&gt;&gt; two Common Redpoll subspecies are usually obvious when the two are <BR>&gt;&gt; together for comparison (Peterson 1947).<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; 3. "Southern" Hoary Redpoll (exilipes): This subspecies breeds in the Low <BR>&gt;&gt; Arctic and much of its range overlaps that of the "Southern" Common <BR>&gt;&gt; Redpoll (flammea). It is the much commoner Hoary subspecies, and is <BR>&gt;&gt; similar in size to the flammea Common Redpoll. During redpoll flight <BR>&gt;&gt; years, it is usually possible to find a few classic adult male exilipes <BR>&gt;&gt; Hoarys. Compared to the "Southern" Common Redpoll, they are more frosted <BR>&gt;&gt; with white rumps, have lightly streaked flanks and very lightly streaked <BR>&gt;&gt; to pure white undertail coverts. Adult females and especially first year <BR>&gt;&gt; females can be noticeably streaked. Exilipes Hoary is similar in size to <BR>&gt;&gt; flammea Common, but may look slightly larger because of its whiter <BR>&gt;&gt; plumage. Hoarys have shorter, more obtuse (stubby) bills imparting a <BR>&gt;&gt; distinctive "pushed in face" appearance. Many females are identifiable by <BR>&gt;&gt; overall paler coloration and bill shape. Individuals appearing <BR>&gt;&gt; intermediate between exilipes and flammea are best left unidentified.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; 4. "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (nominate hornemanni): This is the <BR>&gt;&gt; largest, palest and rarest redpoll. Hornemann's breeds in the Canadian <BR>&gt;&gt; High Arctic Islands and Greenland and is a great rarity in southern <BR>&gt;&gt; Ontario and Quebec. Hornemann's is larger (averages 14.0 cm) than <BR>&gt;&gt; "Southern" Hoary (exilipes) which averages 12.5 cm. It is whiter with <BR>&gt;&gt; less streaking on the sides and flanks and has immaculate white undertail <BR>&gt;&gt; coverts. Adult males have less pink than exilipes, some showing only a <BR>&gt;&gt; trace of pink suffusion on the breast. Females and first year birds are <BR>&gt;&gt; recognizable if compared directly to the two small subspecies, flammea <BR>&gt;&gt; and exilipes, by their larger size. See the excellent article on redpoll <BR>&gt;&gt; identification by Czaplak (1995) in Birding 27(6):446-457. His photo of <BR>&gt;&gt; Hornemann's on page 448 is correctly identified in my opinion. Note <BR>&gt;&gt; larger size of the Hornemann's in the photo in American Birds 42(2):239, <BR>&gt;&gt; which is reproduced on Jean's website link below. See also Doug Tozer's <BR>&gt;&gt; photo and Ron Tozer's detailed description of the recent Ontario <BR>&gt;&gt; "Hornemann's" on Jean Iron's website link below. See David Sibley's <BR>&gt;&gt; website link below.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; A. Why is there so much plumage variation in redpolls?&nbsp; A flock of one <BR>&gt;&gt; subspecies of the Common Redpoll (flammea) will show four plumage types: <BR>&gt;&gt; adult males, adult females, first year males and first year females. <BR>&gt;&gt; Since there are four redpoll subspecies, a large flock potentially could <BR>&gt;&gt; have 16 plumage types, plus considerable individual variation.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; B. What is the Greenland Redpoll? Historically, the name Greenland has <BR>&gt;&gt; NOT been used in North America to describe the rostrata "Greater" Common <BR>&gt;&gt; Redpoll (Peterson 1947, Todd 1963, Bent 1968, Terres 1991, etc.). <BR>&gt;&gt; However, Greenland Redpoll is the European name for "Greater" Common <BR>&gt;&gt; Redpoll (Newton 1972, Jonsson 1993, etc.). Most North American <BR>&gt;&gt; publications use Greenland Redpoll for "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll (Nash <BR>&gt;&gt; 1905, Macoun and Macoun 1909, Taverner 1953, North 1983, etc.). The name <BR>&gt;&gt; Greenland causes confusion. Most of our Hornemann's Hoary Redpolls and <BR>&gt;&gt; Greater Common Redpolls are coming from Canada, not Greenland. To avoid <BR>&gt;&gt; confusion, it is preferable to include the subspecies scientific name <BR>&gt;&gt; after the common name, particularly when first mentioned: (flammea), <BR>&gt;&gt; (rostrata), (hornemanni) and (exilipes).<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; TAKE THE REDPOLL CHALLENGE: This is the first winter in decades to match <BR>&gt;&gt; George North's Ontario record of four redpoll subspecies in one day. Even <BR>&gt;&gt; more amazing, all four were in the same flock. I am not aware that <BR>&gt;&gt; North's record has been matched in southern Canada or the northern United <BR>&gt;&gt; States. However, Roland C. Clement saw all four subspecies on 12 March <BR>&gt;&gt; 1944 at Indian House Lake in northern Quebec (Lat 56 15' 0 N, Long 64 42' <BR>&gt;&gt; 0 W) south of Ungava Bay close to Labrador. Clement in Todd (1963) <BR>&gt;&gt; reported "a feeding flock of mixed migrants that contained ten rostrata, <BR>&gt;&gt; thirty flammea, two hornemanni, and about six exilipes."<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; Three websites with redpoll information and photos.<BR>&gt;&gt; Jean Iron &lt; http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/Redpolls/index.htm>
>> Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station in Toronto <
>> http://www.ttpbrs.ca/>
>> David Sibley < http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/&gt; Scroll down to Tuesday <BR>&gt;&gt; December 4.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; Acknowledgements: I thank Michel Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of <BR>&gt;&gt; Nature for information on redpoll taxonomy and identification. Doug Tozer <BR>&gt;&gt; kindly provided his photo of the recent Minden "Hornemann's" Redpoll. <BR>&gt;&gt; Jean Iron and Ron Tozer made many helpful suggestions.<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; ------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; ------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;&gt; No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>&gt;&gt; Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: <BR>&gt;&gt; 269.17.13/1205 - Release Date: 31/12/2007 3:32 PM<BR>&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; -- <BR>&gt; No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>&gt; Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: <BR>&gt; 269.17.13/1206 - Release Date: 1/1/2008 12:09 PM<BR>&gt; <BR></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif"><BR></DIV></div><br> <hr size=1>Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. </body></html> --0-1996477879-1199280975=:19343--

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