adult male

adult male European distribution male in bush

Identification

There is a tendency amongst travelling birdwatchers to assume that any pale Redpoll in Arctic Scandinavia must be an Arctic Redpoll. This is certainly not the case, especially on Varanger Fjord in north Norway where Arctic Redpolls are far outnumbered by the northern race of the Redpoll. These so-called 'Mealy Redpolls' can look distinctively paler than Redpolls from further south but only rarely do they look as white as a true Arctic Redpolls. The key features to look for before ticking off Arctic Redpoll are the relative lack of streaking, around the sides of the breast and especially on the undertail coverts, the pure white unstreaked rump and a bill that looks as though it has been squashed into its head.

Habitat

Breeds in birch and willow scrub in high Arctic areas, spreading a little further south in winter.

Migration

A short-distance migrant wintering a little to the south of its circumpolar breeding areas. If food supplies fail here then the species will move south in large numbers, some even reaching Britain.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Arctic Redpoll is classed as Scarce: broadly speaking, species that are covered in British Birds' annual review of scarce species (and forms of similar rarity).

Norwick, Unst, Shetland 05/06/2008	Mid Yell, Yell, Shetland 12/10/2009	Funzie, Shetland 11/10/2009	Funzie, Shetland 11/10/2009	Haroldswick, Unst, Shetland 08/10/2009
Cunningsburgh, Shetland 07/10/2009	Cunningsburgh, Shetland 07/10/2009	Cunningsburgh, Shetland 07/10/2009	Cunningsburgh, Shetland 06/10/2009	Cunningsburgh, Shetland 06/10/2009

 View all pictures of Arctic Redpoll

This species has been reported in the following areas (Bird News Extra subscribers can click a county name for more details):

Arctic Redpoll breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Finland
Greenland
Norway
Russia
Sweden

http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob16640.htm   BTO BirdFacts: Arctic Redpoll	Edit this link
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