FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 169
In the same
sense that Remembrance Day, to me, is the unofficial start of winter
Valentine's Day is the unofficial end of winter. Yes, there will be more frigid temperatures
to come and probably some more significant snowfall but the worst is over. Days are noticeably longer; cold spells are
shorter; warm spells more frequent; temperatures are rising overall. Finally, our first spring birds, the Horned
Larks, are back.
In the
meantime it is back to our winter birds.
As I have mentioned previously we have had a Hoary Redpoll in our yard
this year mixed in with the hordes of Common Redpolls. The Hoary Redpoll, like the Common, is
circumpolar in distribution but, unlike the Common, it tends to stay in the Arctic all year round (hence its European name - the
Arctic Redpoll). Although it is
essentially non-migratory some individuals do fly to our area with flocks of
Common Redpolls.
The Hoary
is a washed out or frosty version of the Common Redpoll and sometimes is hard
to differentiate from a pale Common Redpoll.
Even experts will, at times, hesitate to positively identify one in a
mixed flock of Redpolls. For this reason
the two species were, for awhile, lumped into one species - the Redpoll. Some older bird books will list the two as
one species. There are several field
marks that can be used to separate the two species. I will refer to only three and all three
should be seen before safely identifying the bird. First, the bill is stubbier with a straight
culmen (top edge of the bill). This
field mark is subtle to say the least and photos of both species for comparison
is a good way to go about it. Second,
The flanks of the Hoary are only faintly striped, if at all, while the flanks
of the Common are boldly striped. Third,
The rump and under tail coverts of the Hoary are not striped and almost a pure
white while the same areas in the Common are striped and look much darker. With good binoculars, a sharp eye and a lot
of patience these last two field marks are very useful in identifying the Hoary
Redpoll.
Until this
morning I was unable to get a photo of the Hoary Redpoll because it was
constantly moving and "disappearing" among the Common Redpolls. This morning it was cooperative and I was
able to get several good shots of it. Two
of the photos show full body profiles of a Common and Hoary Redpoll
highlighting the differences in the striping on the flanks and to a lesser
extent the shape of the bill. The third
photo is a rear view of a Hoary Redpoll sunning itself early in the
morning. It was all fluffed out thus
clearly exposing the rump and to a lesser extent the under tail coverts. In this photo the "frostiness" of
the bird is emphasized. Finally, this
particular bird was treated rather harshly by the other Redpolls and was
constantly chased away from the feeders by them. As a result it was isolated and fed a
respectable distance away from the Common Redpolls. This interaction convinced us that it was
indeed a different species - the Hoary Redpoll.
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