ID photo guide: Lesser, Mealy and Coues’s Arctic Redpoll

These three redpoll forms are the most likely to be encountered in Britain, though one is scarce and another rare. Andy Stoddart provides all the information you need to split these tricky finches.

Named for the characteristic red markings on their heads, redpolls are charming small finches. The group’s taxonomy is unsettled, with several different very closely related forms considered to be anything from one to five species. However, three species are usually recognised and these can be confusingly similar. Here, Andy Stoddart looks at the three forms most likely to be encountered in Britain and Ireland – Lesser, Mealy (a subspecies of Common) and Coues’s Arctic Redpolls – providing all the information and advice you need to recognise each of them.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Redpolls are delightful, characterful small finches found throughout the northern regions of the Holarctic. They are, however, notoriously problematic to identify.

There is considerable sex, age and seasonal variation and much character overlap between the three currently recognised species, while posture and light conditions have a major effect on their appearance. In this respect they can be likened to large gulls and their identification requires a similar tolerance of uncertainty.

Most birds have to be identified by reference to a ‘suite of characters’ which, when taken together, will render most identifiable. The occasional bird, however, will have to be left unidentified.

Most authors recognise at least five forms grouped into three species, but their taxonomy is far from settled. The three most commonly encountered forms (representing all three species) are dealt with here.

Lesser Redpoll

This species breeds in Alpine central Europe, Britain and Ireland, and around the southern North Sea and the Baltic. In winter it withdraws from the more northerly or high-altitude parts of the range. This is the commonest redpoll in most of Britain and the only regularly breeding one. It nests widely across much of the country, but there are large gaps in its distribution in central, southern and south-west England. Current estimates suggest a British population of 160-190,000 pairs.

Lesser Redpoll can be seen here year round, but it is also a partial short-distance migrant, with some birds leaving these shores in autumn. In winter it can be found in a wide variety of habitats, most typically in birch and alder woodland but also in weedy fields and recently in gardens, where it is attracted to nyger seed.

This is the smallest redpoll

(it looks small compared to a Blue Tit); it is short bodied and relatively short tailed. In many cases it is readily distinguishable by size alone.

Its plumage is dark and swarthy, with rich warm brown hues throughout. The flanks are dingy buff with very strong blurry streaking, the undertail coverts can be streaked throughout and washed buff, the rump is mainly dark and the greater covert wing-bar is often suffused brown. Adult males are pinky-red on the face and breast.

Common Redpoll

The subspecies flammea, ‘Mealy Redpoll’, breeds in the boreal zone across the whole of northern continental Europe, Asia and North America. In Britain it is a rare, irregular breeder in Highland, Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. It winters to the south in all three continents, but is highly irruptive and nomadic.

In Britain this species is predominantly a late autumn and winter visitor, mainly to Scotland and the north and east of England. Its appearances are erratic, however, with some winters seeing very few, while in other years very large influxes occur. Even in irruption years, though, arrivals are quickly absorbed within northern and eastern Britain and this remains a scarce bird in the South-West and Wales. Winter birds frequent the same habitats as Lesser Redpolls. Common Redpoll is longer than Lesser, and both longer tailed and larger billed. Some (formerly labelled ‘holboellii’) are strikingly long billed. Greyer, paler plumage hues will distinguish many Common Redpolls. In particular the supercilium and nape ‘shawl’ are often contrastingly ‘frosty’ and the underparts and wingbars are often whiter.

The dark grey flank streaking is typically bold and smudgy, often forming parallel lines. The rump can show much white, but is typically overlain with thick dark streaking and the undertail coverts have multiple dark ‘arrowhead’ marks (although adult males show less streaking in both these areas).

Adult males are red on the face and breast but freshplumaged birds in autumn/ early winter can look more pale pink due to the presence of white feather tips.

Arctic Redpoll

‘Coues’s Arctic Redpoll’, the subspecies exilipes, breeds throughout the Holarctic tundra and birch zone (though not in the east Canadian Arctic, Greenland or Iceland). Many winter at high latitudes, but some also irrupt south in association with Common Redpolls. (The bird is named for the American army surgeon and ornithologist Elliott Coues, who pronounced his name ‘cows’).

This form is almost exclusively a late autumn and winter visitor to Britain, where it occurs in very variable numbers. In most winters it is rare, but occasional influxes occur. Unsurprisingly, the geographical spread of records mirrors that of Common Redpoll. Though most readily found within flocks of Common Redpolls, it may also be discovered with Lessers or even alone.

Arctic Redpoll is close to Common in total length, though on average, is shorter billed and longer tailed. It is, however, densely feathered and fluffy – an adaptation to Arctic cold. This dense feathering gives it a distinctive structure, making it appear bigger than it really is with a fat-faced, bull-necked, broad-backed appearance. It seems to have difficulty in covering its rump and has a distinctive habit of fluffing up its rump and flank feathers to such an extent that it looks almost spherical!

Some birds (especially adult males) are strikingly pale and obvious, but others (firstwinters and females) much less so. In addition the plumage distinctions become less obvious as winter progresses into spring.

The separation of darker Arctic Redpolls from paler Commons is a classic identification problem.

There are two main pitfalls: identifying a fresh, ‘frosty’ and pink-breasted adult male Common as an Arctic, and identifying darker, more streaked female and first-year Arctics as Commons.

Many observers feel, understandably, most comfortable in claiming only the most ‘obvious-looking’ Arctics, labelling more difficult birds ‘intermediates’ or, less satisfactorily, identifying them as Commons. In reality, however, only a very small percentage are truly intermediate.

Typical Arctic Redpoll plumage clues are a very pale mantle and scapulars with white or pale straw hues, a rump which is wholly white and unstreaked or which has a clear band of unstreaked white (although some can be lightly marked throughout), a bright white ground colour to the flanks with variable and often limited light grey streaking concentrated on the upper and mid flanks, a bright golden-buff plain-looking face with a weakly defined ear covert surround and white undertail coverts which are either unmarked or contain just a few narrow grey shaft streaks. Adult males are weakly flushed pink on the breast and can be almost unmarked on the flanks. ■

1 1 Common and Arctic Redpolls (Urpiainen, Finland, 2 February 2014). An encounter with a redpoll flock is one of the great delights of winter, even better when the birds, as here, show the ‘frosty’ hues and white in the rump which reveal their identity as Common Redpolls. Better still, at least two birds here (at bottom left) show the pale, ghostly tones and large white rumps of Arctic Redpoll.

ANDY STODDART is Vice Chairman of the BBRC and a member of the BOU Records Committee. He is also author of several books and numerous ID papers.

2 2 Lesser Redpoll (Kelling, Norfolk, 20 February 2012). This image captures well the petite and compact appearance of Lesser Redpoll. Note also the overall swarthy dark brown plumage hues, with extensive deep buff in the rather plain-looking face and, in the upper breast and on the flanks, long blurry lines on a strongly brownwashed background.

4 4 Lesser Redpoll (Blashford Lakes, Hampshire, 28 March 2014). This male shows the typically strong pinky-red wash across the lower face, breast and upper flanks. Males can, as here, also appear slightly paler and greyer, causing the potential for confusion with Common Redpoll.

3 3 Lesser Redpoll (Whitlingham CP, Norfolk, 9 March 2018). Strong brown hues are evident throughout the plumage here, giving a rather uniform appearance. The flanks are typically marked with very heavy blurry lines and there is much brown admixed also. The greater covert wing-bar on this bird is rather white, but on many individuals this is sullied brown.

5 5 Lesser Redpoll (Duitsland, Germany, 30 September 2012). When seen from below, and particularly if strongly lit, Lesser Redpolls can appear quite white. However, the rest of the plumage is typically warm brown, including on the flanks. The undertail coverts show the typical pattern – multiple lines or ‘arrowheads’ overlain with a rich buff wash, the whole feather tract contrasting sharply with the white belly.

6 6 Mealy Redpoll (Kuusamo, Finland 12 March 2008). Although not easy to discern in photographs, Common Redpolls are both longer overall and proportionately longer tailed than Lessers, and often look quite long billed. Plumage clues include a slightly more ‘frosty’ look to the face, with pale, silvery-grey hues in the supercilium and a slight ‘shawl’ effect caused by paler nape-sides which highlight a neat dark surround to the ear coverts. The flanks are typically marked with long blurry streaks, but the underlying ground colour is whitish. The upperparts of this individual are rather brown, as in Lesser Redpoll, but can be greyer in some.

7 7 Mealy Redpoll (site unknown, The Netherlands, 9 February 2018). ‘Frosty’ colours are particularly evident in this individual, which has strong silvery-grey hues in the supercilium and nape-sides and a neatly outlined ear covert patch. The upperparts are also quite grey. The wing-bars on this bird are typically bold and white and the rump is typically marked, too – white but with strong dark markings over most of its length. The flanks look quite white and less marked on this individual, perhaps suggesting Arctic Redpoll, but the blurry nature of the streaking and its concentration towards the rear flanks are typical of Common Redpoll.

8 8 Mealy Redpoll (Baarn, The Netherlands, 8 February 2008). The strongly grey and ‘frosty’-looking hues of this male, together with its pale pink breast flush, might prompt thoughts of Arctic Redpoll. However, the bird looks slim and sleek, lacking the strongly ‘padded’ look of Arctic Redpoll, the ear coverts are well delineated and there are subtle earth-brown hues in the mantle and scapulars. The colouring on the breast appears pink due to the presence of white feather tips. These will soon wear off to reveal a deeper red colour beneath. In life, the rump and undertail coverts would offer further clues.

9 9 Mealy Redpoll (Helsingør, Denmark, 27 December 2010). Looking rather white and ‘frosty’ on the underparts and flanks, these birds can be identified as Common Redpolls. The undertail coverts pattern is typical with broad dark streaks and ‘arrowhead’ markings on a white ground colour.

10 10 Coues’s Arctic Redpoll (Hazlewood Common, Suffolk, 23 March 2018). The strikingly pale, ghostly hues of this bird are sufficient to identify it as an Arctic Redpoll. More specifically, note the rather large-headed, bull-necked and short-billed appearance, white hues in the head, mantle and scapulars, a very plain-looking face with no ear covert demarcation, bright white wing-bars, bright white flanks with short, grey, wispy streaking, a wholly white rump and apparently unmarked undertail coverts. Most do not look this striking, however, and a search image based on this individual will leave most unidentified.

11 11 Coues’s Arctic Redpoll (Kaamanen, Finland, 16 April 2008). Structural features visible here include a slightly ‘pug-faced’ and short-billed look and rather fluffy, billowing loose flank feathers. The face and upperparts are typically washed a bright straw-brown, the face is relatively plain looking and the flanks are very bright white with just short, wispy streaks distributed mainly on the fore and midflanks. As far as can be judged from this side view the undertail coverts appear to be wholly white.

12 12 Coues’s Arctic Redpoll (Nejlan Tuulen Tupa, Finland, 20 March 2015). This perhaps less striking individual looks typically short billed and plain faced with almost no ear covert demarcation. Most importantly, however, note the pale straw-brown hues in the head and upperparts. The flank streaking is towards the more marked end of the spectrum, but is still relatively light and on a bright white background.

13 13 Coues’s Arctic Redpoll (Kelling, Norfolk, 21 January 2012). The fluffy-looking plumage and bull-necked, short-billed appearance combined with a plain-looking face with pale straw hues and white flanks with very short, light streaking add up to a typical and striking Arctic Redpoll. The undertail coverts pattern can be seen clearly here. The single narrow shaft streak on the longest feather is usual, but some can show additional fine marks on adjacent feathers.