Six species of Carduelis Brisson (1760)
occur in North America north of Mexico according to Sibley (Guide to Birds:
532-535. 2000) of which two, C. flammea and C. hornemanni bear the
common name of “redpoll.” The genus is composed of some 30 species found mainly in
the Northern Hemisphere with the greatest concentration in Asia. Carduelis is
closely related to, and perhaps, according to recent molecular studies, should be
included in the genus Loxia Linnaeus (1758), the crossbills. Historically,
the redpolls themselves have been assigned to their own genus, Acanthis
Borkausen (1797); today Acanthis is considered to be a subgenus within
Carduelis.
The common redpoll, Carduelis flammea, was
initially named Fringilla flammea by Linnaeus (Syst. Nat., ed
10, 1: 182. 1758) who cited two references: “F. fuca, crista flammea. Faun.
Svec. 201”, and “Linaria s. Luteola nigra. Klein. av. 93” with his binomial.
The former refers to Linnaeus’s Fauna Svecica published in 1746 while the
latter alludes to Jacob Theodor Klein’s Historiae avivm prodromvs
cum praefatione de ordine animalivm in
genere published in 1750. Linnaeus knew
the bird only from Europe.
Today the species occurs mainly in conifer forests
and mixed hardwood sites in northern Europe, Asia and, in North America, from Alaska
to Greenland, with breeding sites restricted to boreal forests and tundra.
Four subspecies are sometimes recognized within
Carduelis flammea.
Of these the European Carduelis flammea cabaret (Statius Muller, 1776) is now
often
considered a distinct species and goes by the common name of lesser redpoll. The
lesser redpoll is a much smaller, darker bird than the common redpoll and
occurs from southern Norway east to the Carpathian Mountains south to the
Mediterranean Ocean.
The expression with an extensively deep pink breast
found in North America is distinguished as Carduelis flammea rostrata (Coues,
1861); it occurs mainly in Greenland but has been found wintering as far south as
New York; it also winters in northwestern Europe. This bird is slightly larger than
the common redpoll, darker in color, and usually much heavier having a longer tail
and a thicker bill that is more akin to that of the house finch than the common
redpoll. When perched, one can frequently see the heavily streaked under
tail-coverts. The Greenland redpoll breeds mainly along the coast of southern
Greenland and on the Baffin Islands of Canada. The subspecies typically winters only
as far
south as Manitoba to Newfoundland in Canada, and in northwestern Europe.
Closely allied to Carduelis flammea rostrata
is C. f. islandica (Hantzch, 1904), an endemic to Iceland, which is
marginally distinct from rostrata. This is a darker bird than the common
redpoll and thus similar to rostrata in this feature. Neither of these
subspecies is
particularly distinct from subspecies flammea, but then a distinction between
C.
flammea and C. hornemanni, the hoary redpoll, is difficult if not
dubious, and some
authors include the latter as another subspecies of the former.
In a narrow sense Carduelis flammea flammea
occurs throughout the Northern Hemisphere but has been introduced into Australia,
New Zealand and Colombia. Its red cap, dark face, yellow bill and streaked flanks
usually will distinguish the species. In general, the streaks on the flanks of C.
f. flammea tend to be more pronounced than those of C. hornemanni with
the latter averaging more white on the body and a slightly longer tail. A
distinction between C. f. flammea and C. h. exilipes is difficult to
make. However, there is no indication of inbreed between the two species so that
maintaining
both as species appears justified even if they are difficult to distinguish. There
is no question
that both species are closely related and that the fragmentation of both into
subspecies is probably a recent evolutionary event.
The occurrence of the common redpoll in the
northern United States during the winter is highly variable with population numbers
varying greatly dependent upon available food in southern Canada. Their presence in
the northern United States tends to be cyclic on a every other-year schedule. At least
some individuals migrate between the northern continents. When the common redpoll
frequents
New York, it tends to return northward from mid-March to mid-April; they return to
the area around mid-November. The birds tend to migrate in small flocks mainly
during daylight hours.
Our winter observations find common redpolls
frequenting feeders with black niger seeds as plant seeds are the normal food for
the subspecies. Other feeder seeds such as millet will also be taken if presented.
The birds tend not to feed on the ground, but will perch on a feeder for an extended
period of time (up to four minutes or more) – see the short video below. Redpolls
are able to store seeds in esophageal diverticula temporarily and seem to do this
while on the feeder when they both eat and store seeds. The birds will occasionally
chatter on the feeder.
Carduelis is the Latin word for "finch" and specifically was applied to the European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis. The species epithet, flammea, is Latin for blaze or fire, alluding to the bright red spot on the head.
For more information on the redpolls in North
America see Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s site on common
redpoll where on can find a map of the species’ distribution, its voice, and
other facts. For some additional information of the subspecies see Redpoll challenge: 4
subspecies. The difficult to distinguish hoary
redpoll, Carduelis hornemanni, is also on the Cornell site.
Our pictures were taken in Lansing, Tompkins Co.,
New York, in February 2008.
