Redpolls Make A Resurgence In The Area Many areas of Wisconsin have seen an irruption of common redpolls this winter, songbirds that can survive farther north in most years than any other small bird. Charlotte has been participating, via the Internet, in the nation-wide Great Backyard Bird Count. All 15 species of birds on the list for this morning have been seen in our front yard. The crows feasting on the cracked corn scattered in with the gravel on our driveway numbered eight this early morning. Their extreme wariness and skittish behavior are the exact opposite from the 19 friendly and trusting common redpolls that have decorated our feeders in grand fashion for the past few weeks. Even the female pileated woodpecker that has been coming to our marvel meal feeder is more trusting than the crows. Having fed the birds early this morning, I was on my way from the garage to the house when in flew "piley." Much to my surprise she stood her ground on the back-side of a small white ash near the feeder, about 30 feet from where I was walking, and waited until I had gone into the house. She was soon enjoying a marvel meal breakfast for the next five minutes. Redpolls on the mesh Nyger thistle feeders. The male is the one with the rosy chest. Many people in the Midwest have been reporting redpolls in recent weeks, sparkly creatures that are helping to ease the sting of the extremely cold weather and deep snow. The family they belong to is the Fringillidae (frin-JILL-i-dee), the largest of our bird families, and includes the grosbeaks, finches, sparrows, buntings, juncos, siskins, crossbills, towhees, longspurs and others. At the first casual glance one can be fooled into thinking you’re seeing pine siskins rather than redpolls. Their actions, size and body streaking are quite similar. However you soon realize the yellow in the tail and wings is missing, and then you notice the brilliant red forehead patch along with the black chin. The early morning sun appears to set this ruby-red patch on fire. Talk about a bird with a flaming forehead – this is it! By the way, pine siskins have been sporadic in the state this winter. Literature and distribution maps indicate that common redpolls can just as well be wintering in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Italy, China or Japan. This wide scale occurrence of these erratic wanderers easily qualifies them as circumpolar birds. Biologists refer to them as an irruptive species, known to increase irregularly in number. It is generally thought that they are driven south by a combination of severe cold, deep snow and lack of food, all quite evident in the North this year. Their primary food consists of tree seeds, especially those off birches along with a lesser amount from alders and willows. There are however many winters when these extremely hardy birds do remain in the far North. Theoretically redpolls can’t exist during the winter in the Arctic where the temperature may plummet to 80 degrees below zero F. – but they do! One adaptation that enables these 12 to 15-gram sprites to do so is an extension or pouch, referred to as a diverticulum (die-ver-TIK-you-lum), on either side of the inner throat where extra food can be stored. One of their favorite foods, birch seeds, can therefore be available for consumption during hours of darkness when food finding would otherwise be impossible. Bear in mind the fact that there are far fewer daylight hours in the Arctic region during the winter season. The food-storing capability can be looked at as an energy-saving device. The redpolls will gather a lot of seeds quickly, then retreat to a perch where they will slowly consume the food. This action reduces aggressive encounters with other redpolls which otherwise consumes considerable energy. The hulls and meats of the tiny seeds are softened in the diverticulum. Less body heat is lost than having to raise and lower their heads repeatedly during feeding. Energy is being conserved by the bird being, in a sense, in a confined cavity such as a dense coniferous cover. The redpolls, like other birds in winter, will also fluff out their feathers helping to conserve heat. The redpolls being attracted to our yard feed mostly at the two niger thistle feeders along with some sunflower seeds they get on the open top of the platform feeders. When full of niger seeds, the two hanging mesh bags support as many as twelve redpolls at one time. It is then that you can study these flashy little birds from all angles. Showing clearly are their conical yellowish bill, red forehead, black chin, gray back with black streaks, streaked rump, pale underparts with streaked sides and flan ks, forked tail and a pale pink wash on the males’ breasts which is lacking on the females. I will never forget March of 1963. I was visiting with my friends the Hunters northwest of Green Bay near Mill Center. It was the spring in which I banded nearly 700 purple finches in their yard, a memorable winter for large numbers of birds. As usual, Hy and I were up well before daybreak to nurse a steaming mug of coffee and watch for the first hint of morning light down through the woods to the east. Suddenly we detected a movement of birds out in the 20-acre field beyond the woods. The more intently we watched, the larger the flock appeared. Finally the temptation to have a closer look overcame us and out we went. A multitude of weeds showed above the snow and it was upon these seeds, such as pigweed, that the flock was feasting - redpolls, hundreds of them! Much to our surprise and utter enjoyment the flock, safe in its great size, absolutely ignored us as we inched our way into its very midst. We turned ever so slowly, counting, estimating all the while. Our final figure was between three and four thousand, surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It left us more in awe than ever at these visitors with flaming foreheads from the North, the dazzling little redpolls. This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 02/21/2004. © Copyright 2004 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.