Common redpolls

[mr.sharp-photo]

i edited the title - i may have some hoary redpoll photos as well. will check later.

Leslie spit

[denis]

i like the last one,richard.
lucky you.

[Luv2Bird]

Nice shots .. lucky you .. I'm still hoping to see some of these guys

[mr.sharp-photo]

both of you: get out to the Spit.
lots for them to eat and you can hear them easily (they sound like goldfinches)

[Luv2Bird]

Thanks for the tip ! Will try to get out there soon!  I know a place where there are many of the type of pine cones in your picture.  Maybe we'll try there too.  Thanks again.

[Reuven_M]

Those are actually birch cones I believe (or something similar), and I know redpoll irruptions are linked with birch seeds.

[Luv2Bird]

I just confirmed by searching the net ,  that they are birch cones.   I've seen these at Erindale.   Reuven -  have you seen Redpolls there?

[thouc]

Very nice pictures, but I believe they are Common Redpolls. They seem too streaked underneath for Hoary. Hoary Redpoll should have pure white undertail coverts without streaking. The bill doesn't look small enough either.

/Thomas

[Reuven_M]

Looking at them again, these look like commons, not hoaries.

I haven't seen any redpolls at erindale yet, but there are tons of house and goldfinches, so they will probably show up.

[thouc]

Here's a picture of a Hoary with Common Redpolls where you can see the tiny beak and pure white undertail coverts without streaking.

http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/108180269/original

/Thomas

[thouc]

In Sibley's blog there is a lot of discussion about Redpoll identification. It is pretty complicated and intermediate-looking birds can probably not be safely identified to species.

With this information my comments about the picures are:

1. Cannot determine from picture.
2-3. Same bird? Light-colured male Common Redpoll, on the border to being intermediate.
4. Male Common Redpoll (Heavy streaking on undertail coverts)
5. Cannot determine from the picture, undertail coverts looks light with only faint streaking, but this might be because of the angle. Might even be the same bird as in 2-3?

[Reuven_M]

I'm not positive that 5 is not a hoary (don't think so), and 1 is hard to tell, but I am (reasonably) confident the middle three are commons. The problem is that although they look a bit different, there is little to indicate that they could not be all the same bird!

Sibley's blog is the best resource I've found for redpolls (although I haven't actually seen a redpoll since I found it!)

[mr.sharp-photo]

Here's a picture of a Hoary with Common Redpolls where you can see the tiny beak and pure white undertail coverts without streaking.

http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/108180269/original

/Thomas

tomorrow, i'll doublecheck my photos. there were 3 feeding together. i focused on 2 of them. hopefully i have a pic of the 3rd

[JW Mills]

Nicely done!
I like the first pic, who's watching who?

[lovetobird]

Very nice series and bird!