Lesser Redpoll

The other day, I saw some small brown birds flying about in a field by the bridge were we see the Heron. I looked closely and saw it had some red on its head. I thought it was either a Linnet or a Lesser Redpoll. I went back the next day with my camera and took a few photos. Once I got home I had a look in my bird books and decided they were Lesser Redpolls!




Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpolls are a member of the finch family, although they are less well known and are a more unusual visitor to your garden. They are 11.5cm in length and are only slightly bigger than a blue tit. They have a streaked brown body, a red forehead and a black bib. You usually see them in flocks and they're often with Siskins. They will visit gardens and hang upside down on your bird feeders. Their conservation status is red and there are 220,000 breeding pairs in the UK. There was a time when there were just know as Redpolls but now they're split into the Common Redpoll, which nest in Europe and visit the UK in the winter, the Lesser Redpoll, which nests in the UK, and the Artic Redpoll, which is a very rare winter visitor. This can make it very tricky to tell which type you are looking at when you see them, however there are more Lesser Redpolls in the UK and so you are more likely to spot one of these. 

Maybe we might spot them making their nest by where we saw them which makes me very excited.

Comments

  1. Nanny16 February 2021 at 22:26

    Wow, you really know your birds now, and see them. Cant wait to ho for a trip with you so you can show me all these little wonders.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laura Bush10 March 2021 at 05:45

    I always check this type of advisory post and I found your article which is related to my interest. This is a great way to increase knowledge for us on baby birds. Thanks for sharing an article like this. african grey baby parrot for sale in UK

    ReplyDelete

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