The Arctic redpoll or hoary redpoll (''Acanthis hornemanni'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species in the finch family

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

. It breeds in

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

birch forest. It has two subspecies, ''A. h. hornemanni'' (Greenland or Hornemann's Arctic redpoll) of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and neighbouring parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and ''A. h. exilipes'' (Coues' Arctic redpoll), which breeds in the tundra of northern North America and the Palearctic. Many birds remain in the far north; some birds migrate short distances south in winter, sometimes travelling with

common redpoll The common redpoll or mealy redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') is a species of bird in the finch family. It breeds somewhat further south than the Arctic redpoll, also in habitats with thickets or shrubs. Taxonomy The common redpoll was listed in 1 ...

s. The genus name ''Acanthis'' is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''akanthis'', a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird, and ''hornemanni'' commemorates the Danish botanist

Jens Wilken Hornemann Jens Wilken Hornemann (6 March 1770 – 30 July 1841) was a Danish botanist. Biography He was a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden from 1801. After the death of Martin Vahl in 1804, the task of publishing the Flora Danica ...

. The name "arctic redpoll" is used in Europe and "hoary redpoll" in North America.

Description

The Arctic redpoll is similar in appearance to the

but generally paler. It may be distinguished from that species by the unstreaked pale rump patch and the uniformly pale vent area. The Greenland race is a very large, pale bird, with the male sometimes described as a "snowball", but both forms are pale with small beaks, white rumps and often more yellow than grey-brown tones in their plumage. They have black bibs, orangish forehead patches and two light-coloured stripes on each wing. The females are more streaked on their breasts, sides and rumps, but are still pale. Adults are about in length and weigh about . Wingspan ranges from 20 to 25 cm.

Behaviour

The Arctic redpoll is partially migratory and tends to move southwards in November and north again in March and April. It feeds mainly on seeds, particularly of

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

trees. Breeding takes place from May to July. The nest is built low down in a tree or bush and is neatly built with an outer layer of twigs, a middle layer of root fibres, fragments of juniper bark and lichens and an inner layer of down, willow buds and reindeer hair. Three to seven pale blue eggs with light reddish speckling are laid and incubated by the female. They hatch after about eleven days and the young fledge in about a further thirteen days.

References

External links

Oiseaux.net
Photos, text, map * *

– Cornell Lab of Ornithology {{Taxonbar, from1=Q391412, from2=Q27075856 Arctic redpoll Birds of the Arctic Arctic redpoll Arctic redpoll Holarctic birds Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN