FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 166
Earlier
today as we were having our late morning coffee and watching the House Sparrows
and Common Redpolls (hereinafter referred to as simply Redpolls) feeding
frantically at the oilseed and Canola feeders respectively the birds suddenly
scattered in a panic. At that moment a
Northern Shrike landed in a Pincherry tree near the feeders and proceeded to
survey the area. I rushed for my camera
but this shrike was impatient and flew off before I could get a shot of him. The following morning when it was still quite
dark he came again but flew off empty handed again. Bird feeding stations are a very convenient
place for predators like shrikes to find lunch.
It was a good half day before the birds returned.
On a more
positive note the Pine Grosbeaks have returned after an absence of several
days. I do not know if they are the same
birds that were here before as there are more females in this flock. As a result I did manage to get some good
pictures of the females.
The number
of Redpolls at our feeders has gone from a half dozen or so to four or five
times as many birds. To accommodate that
many birds we have put out another Canola feeder. I am still surprised at their preference for
Canola seed when all the other birds completely avoid it. If nothing else they are cheap to feed.
Like Pine
Grosbeaks, Redpolls are circumpolar in distribution nesting in the evergreen
scrub in the Tundra and flying south of the Boreal Forest for the winter. Like all finches the males and females are
different although the differences in Redpolls are not as obvious as in other
finches. Both sexes are small brown
striped birds with yellow bills and red forehead patches. The males also have a rosy wash at the top
and along the sides of the breast. From
a frontal view both birds have a full length broad white stripe that can be
compared to a man wearing an unbuttoned suit exposing a white shirt.
There is
another species of Redpoll, the Hoary Redpoll, that occasionally shows up here
mixed in with a flock of Common Redpolls.
The Hoary is a very white version of the Common with very little
striping on the breast and belly nor does the male have any rose on the breast
only a slight tinge of pink. The Hoary
spends the entire year on the Tundra except for the odd stray that shows up
here. Fortunately, there has been one at
our feeders this year. Now if only I can
get a picture of it. The two species are
closely related and taxonomists have lumped them together as one species in the
past only to separate them later on. Presently
they are considered two species.
This week I
have included three pictures of Redpolls.
One is of a lone bird, a mature male, in a tree showing the dark red
forehead patch, yellow bill and pink on the breast: the second photo is of a
flock of Redpolls (no mature males) at our Canola feeder: the third is of a
lone female feeding on seeds of a plant in our garden.
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