Common Redpoll

Acanthis flammea

A regular migrant in the spring and fall, which is also found irregularly during the summer in most years (it breeds semi-annually) and has been found during the winter on a few occasions despite a general lack of coverage at that season. During the spring it is most commonly found during late May with a peak of May 20th-June 5th. After June 5th, this species may remain in small numbers through the rest of the spring season and into summer on occasion when individuals will often attempt nesting. This species is suspected or confirmed to have bred in 1913, 1996-1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2013-2014, on St. Paul Island. The first fall migrants may be noted as early as mid-late August, though substantial numbers are not seen until at least early September. Numbers of this species may continue through the entire fall season and into November and December or beyond, however little is known about movements at that time.

Identification between this species and the next (Hoary Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni) can be extremely difficult and many redpolls are simply left as unknowns.

Photo by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Photo by Ron Furnish
Photo by John Gorey
Photo by Tom Johnson