How to Identify aCommon Redpoll
Acanthis flammea · 4.7–5.5 in (12–14 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Streaked brown and white with a crimson forecrown, black chin and a rosy wash across the chest.
Female
Same red forecrown and black chin but with no pink on the chest.
Male photo: Cephas / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Second photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- Small crimson patch on the forehead
- Tiny yellow conical bill
- Black chin patch
- Heavily streaked flanks
Similar species
What it sounds like
A dry rattling "chit-chit-chit" in flight, mixed with buzzy trills from the flock.
Behaviour that gives it away
Tunnels into snow to roost overnight, and stores seed in a throat pouch to digest in shelter after dark.
Habitat & range
Boreal forest and tundra scrub; irrupts into northern states in some winters, often at nyjer feeders.
When you'll see it
A winter visitor in northern, central and eastern North America.
What it eats
Birch and alder seeds, weed seeds and nyjer at feeders.
Did you know?
It survives temperatures far below zero by tunnelling into snowbanks to roost, insulated from the wind.
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