BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
REDPOLLS
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
This is a bird we aren't going to see on Nantucket this winter. Maybe next year- maybe not! But when we do see them, chances are we'll see a great many. 2003 was an amazing year for these birds. We found 469 of them on our Christmas Bird Count. I thought this would put them in the top ten, numbers-wise on that count, but no, it was number 25. There are a lot of birds around at Christmas time.

Common Redpoll

This bird is called the Common Redpoll, Carduelis flammea, roughly translating to a 'flaming goldfinch.' In older birdbooks it is called Acanthis flammea, which illustrates the agonizing processes scientists go through when trying to decide who is related to whom. The key thing is that the species name, flammea, remains the same. If these scientists ever decided that we humans should move from the genus Homo, our species name would remain sapiens.

Redpolls are examples of what is known as an irruptive species. They were unknown when Griscom and Folger penned 'Birding Nantucket' in the late '40s because there were fewer folks with bird feeders back then and they were probably just missed. We see them in the Christmas Bird Count data for 1958, 1960, then 1969 and '70. If they are missing four or five years in a row, we really start to anticipate them.

Earlier this winter they showed up at a few places in Massachusetts in December but not here. This is a bird of the sub-Arctic and most years they don't need to come this far south. In 1855 Henry David Thoreau wrote of them, "These crimson aerial creatures have wings which would bear them quickly to the regions of summer, but here is all the summer they want."

This gives us an anticipation for what seeing redpolls would be like. I think 'flame-colored' overstates the case, but some of them show a delightful shade of pink. It is often the case that you see so many of them at once, their impression can overwhelm the senses.

These are tiny birds, smaller than sparrows. They appear quite round. In Greenland there is a very white race that the locals refer to as snowballs. Redpolls occur all around the Northern Hemisphere, living in a zone called the 'semibarrens,' between the treeless tundra and the spruce forests. What strikes me when I see them is their black chin, dark forehead, with a tiny, yellow, sharp-pointed finch beak in between. Only the adult males show much red or pink at all. At best, you see a red cap and a pinkish wash down the striped front of these little birds. Otherwise they are streaked brownish gray and white.

Except when feeding their young, these birds are almost 100 percent vegetarian. Most years the seeds they love, birch, alder, and willow, are bountiful enough to take care of their needs. But every so often these crops fail and south the redpolls head, sometimes as far as the Carolinas, once all the way to Bermuda. They quickly adapt to the use of bird feeders and if you have a thistle feeder, they will show up with your goldfinches. Quite often you will have Pine Siskins also invading with them. Siskins appear longer, streakier bodied and also show a flashy yellow stripe the length of the wing.

When these tiny mites appear at our feeders they seem to have a complete trust about them. Perhaps it's that they seldom have to deal with humans. Bird banders find they can reach into a trap to remove one for banding while other redpolls continue to hop into the trap.

They are well adapted to living in an icy environment. Since much of their feeding is up in trees they feed quickly, storing quantities of seed in a special throat pouch. Then they head for the ground where they've made tunnels into the snow to a little roosting chamber where they can finish consuming their lunches in relative warmth. Ornithologists have been surprised to see these birds take full water baths, soaking themselves, in even the coldest weather. They also take quite

sophisticated snow baths.

They only nest far to the north, beyond the northern forests. There, in the dwarf vegetation, they build a neat nest of twigs, often completely lined with the white feathers of the ptarmigan. Four or five eggs are laid and when they hatch, the young are quite helpless, not even opening their eyes for the first four days. Still, they must be quick to mature in the short Arctic summer and by the twelfth day they are out of the nest and flying. Asignificant factor supporting this rapid development is the twenty hours of Arctic daylight. They are fed at a frantic rate during all this period.

"Birding Nantucket" shows them as 'uncommon' from mid-September through the end of April, but this is true only one year in five or ten. If you provide thistle seed and they start to arrive next fall,

be prepared to spend a lot on birdseed! I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. If you enjoy 'social' birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228-1693 for more information. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.