Common Redpoll




>
>Just came in from the feeders delighted at a close-up visit of two
>female white-winged crossbills that have been around for a few days.
>When they left I fixed up the feeders and tried out my recently acquired
>Audobon bird call, and just stood there twittering away with it for a
>while.
>
>Suddenly out of nowhere, a flock of SEVEN birds landed in a small tree
>about 12 feet away. I kept twittering this thing slowly and finally the
>lone female of the group ventured nearer, then closer still, and
>eventually landed on the Niger tube feeder about two feet from my face.
>Great stuff! She was soon followed by her more timid male counterparts.
>To my ears, their song was a cross between a songbird and Pine Siskin.
>BUT I don't know what they are and they aren't in my Ontario birdbook.
>It was suggested folks on this list might be able to help me identify
>these guys:
>
>DESCRIPTION:
>- They were about the size of a Pine Siskin;
>- Back similar in colour and markings to a sparrow. (No, they weren't
>Chipping or American Tree sparrows).
>- Male and female had thin white wing bars.
>- Male had a bright blood-red, almost triangular patch, on the top of
>the head, and a pronounced yellow beak. Beak was about the size and
>shape of a chickadee...maybe a bit more pointed, but less pointed than a
>Siskin.
>- Female had a brownish-yellow coloured beak, and darker brownish-yellow
>top of head, and some yellow in the wings not seen in the male.
>- BOTH had a primarily white breast with pronounced mottled golden brown
>on the sides and upper chest, something like a Veery.
>- The male blood-red head patch was a really deep red colour, very
>pronounced, very bright.... his most distinguishing feature.
>- Male had white in the wings while female had a bit of yellow
>visible... which seemed a bit strange.
>- They ate Niger seed from a tube feeder, with lots of other seed types
>around in feeders and freshly placed on ground.
>- Seemed comfortable with the Niger feeder and feeding with me standing
>beside them, and chickadees feeding around them.
>- Behaviour at the feeder resembled Pine Siskins. All seven were
>feeding at once on the Niger feeder without squabbling.
>
>I wish Santa would hurry up with the birdbook I asked him to bring me
>this year... I have been a very good boy.... honest! I have never seen
>these birds here in the 15 yrs I have lived here. Help!
>
>-- Paul, Confused but delighted in Northern Ontario
> <pgparlee at onlink.net>
>
>
>

--
*********************************
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * What revolutionaries do best
* mpatters at orednet.org * is eat their own young
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters