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Common Redpoll

Acanthis flammea ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: FRINGILLIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.

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Keys to identification Help

Finches
Finches
Typical Voice

  • Size & Shape

    Common Redpolls are small songbirds with small heads and small, pointed, seed-eating bills. The tail is short with a small notch at the tip.

  • Color Pattern

    Common Redpolls are brown and white birds with heavily streaked sides. Look for a small red forehead patch, black feathering around a yellow bill, and two white wingbars. Males have a pale red vest on the chest and upper flanks.

  • Behavior

    Redpolls travel in flocks of up to several hundred individuals. They move frenetically, foraging on seeds in weedy fields or small trees one minute and swirling away in a mass of chattering birds the next. Their buzzy zap and rising dreeee calls are distinctive.

  • Habitat

    Look for Common Redpolls in northern habitats ranging from willow flats to open conifer forest to open, weedy fields. They visit backyard bird feeders as well, especially during the winter.

Range Map Help

Common Redpoll Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

  • Adult male
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    Common Redpoll

    Adult male
    • © Lang Elliott/CLO
  • Adult female
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    Common Redpoll

    Adult female
    • © Lang Elliott/CLO

Similar Species

Hoary Redpolls live even farther north than Common Redpolls; when you see them, they are likely to be with flocks of Common Redpolls. Hoaries are paler overall than Common Redpolls, with whiter rumps, less dark flank streaking, and even smaller bills. Pine Siskins are darker overall and more heavily streaked, with almost no white visible; they also have longer bills than redpolls. American Goldfinches in winter are more smoothly patterned in brown and yellow tones, with darker wings and bold wingbars. They lack the streaking and the red forehead of Common Redpolls. House Finches, Purple Finches, and Cassin’s Finches are all larger than Common Redpolls, have much heavier bills, and lack bold wingbars; unlike the redpolls’ small patches of red, the males of these finches have red covering the whole crown and chest.

Regional Differences

Common Redpolls from Greenland are larger and darker than those breeding in Alaska and Canada.

Backyard Tips

Common Redpolls eat seeds of a size to match their small bills. They’re particularly likely to come to thistle or nyjer feeders, though they may also take black oil sunflower or scavenge opened seeds left behind by larger-billed birds.

Find This Bird

Most people in North America get to see Common Redpolls only in the winter, when the birds come to feeders or forage on small seeds in trees or in weedy fields. Listen for their sharp, buzzy call notes and energetic trills and chatters. Keep in mind that they often form fairly large flocks that seem constantly in motion.

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