Saturday 28 February 2015

Bird of the week - Lesser redpoll

Despite their names the lesser redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) is much more common than the common redpoll.  I haven't seen as many in the garden this winter as last but they have been here every day in this month, although mainly in ones and twos.  Their scarcity this year is probably related to there being plenty of natural food for them - birch, alder and conifer seeds are favoured.  (I haven't seen any siskins here, presumably because of the bumper Sitka spruce crop last autumn.)

Lesser redpolls range in colour from onlyslightlyorangepolls to gloriously pink-flushed birds, with their colour developing as spring approaches.











Listen to Sir David Attenborough's BBC Tweet of the Day on lesser redpoll here.  Read more about lesser redpolls on BTO BirdFacts here and on BTO BirdTrends here.

1 comment:

  1. Very nice. We've not seen one at all. But have had a few siskins. And the yellowhammers have finally turned up, to eat the ground feed I've been putting on the drive.

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