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COMMON REDPOLL FACTS |
Description
The Common Redpoll is native to the northern hemisphere and has been introduced to Macquarie Island. It is a fairly small finch. It is brown-grey in colour with dark streaks and a red patch on the forehead, and black throat. Males have reddish markings on the breast, and females have whiter breast. The rump is streaked. and there is a broad dark brown streak across the vent. It has brown legs and thick yellow bill with dark tip.
Size
12 cm
Habitat
open forest and scrubland
Food
feeds on seeds in trees, bushes, or on the ground. Also feeds on insects
Breeding
The nest is built from twigs, root fibers, bark and lichens and is situated in a tree or bush. The female lays from three to seven speckled eggs.
Range
The common Redpoll breeds in Alaska and arctic Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. It was introduced to New Zealand and has found its way to Macquarie Island where it now breeds. It is a rare vagrant elsewhere having been recorded in Tasmania and Queensland. It is a declared pest in Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Fringillidae | | Genus: | Carduelis | | Species: | flammea | | Common Name: | Common Redpoll |
Relatives in same Genus
European Goldfinch (C. carduelis)
European Greenfinch (C. chloris)
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