The Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) is about 5 to 5.5 inches (12 to 14 centimeters) in length. This little finch is gray-brown with a forked tail. The plumage is quite variable. The forehead and crown are red. The breast is whitish and streaked. Males have a reddish bib, both males and females have a black chin. The beak is yellow.

Common Redpolls breed in the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds. They live in scrub forests, birch groves and tundra. They are very active, social, twittering little birds. In the winter they can be found as far south as California, Oklahoma and the Carolinas. They feed on birch catkins.

The nest is a cup of grass placed in a willow or birch. There are four to six pale green eggs, spotted with red-brown. The incubation period is from 10 to 11 days. Chicks take 12 days to fledge. There is generally one brood per year but on occasion, if conditions allow, there can be two.

Redpolls are migratory. In mid-winter they can be seen in huge flocks, sometimes reaching into the thousands. They begin their return north in mid-March.

Order: Passeriformes | Family: Fringillidae | Species: Carduelis flammea

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photo courtesy Robert Royse