Note: pictures and text by Michael Stubblefield, not Phil Jeffrey
On February 1, 2004 I noticed a pallid Redpoll at a feeder on a friends private residence near Copake Lake in Columbia County, New York. Several (as many as 5) other Redpolls were present. I was able to obtain several photos of the bird with a tripod mounted Canon 600mm F4.0 image stabilized lens and a Canon 1.4x II teleconverter attached to a Canon Eos 1v camera. The photos were taken on Fuji Sensia 100 ASA film and scanned with a 5400 DPI Minolta scanner.
My initial impression of the bird was that it exhibited many of the characteristics of female, or less likely, a first winter Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni exilipes). Inspection of the photos I obtained helped to enforce this impression. Note the overall pale appearance of the bird, including the reduced streaking on the sides and back as well as the nearly un-streaked vent. The back is very white and the head has a mashed appearance to the advanced forehead. Note especially that the bill that is much shorter than that of the Common Redpolls in the accompanying photos. The rump is white (not seen in the photos) but bordered by darkish feathers on the upper tail coverts; this seems in range with other photos and illustrations of Hoary Redpoll.
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| Common Redpoll: | |
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Additional photos of Hoary Redpoll can be found at:
I welcome any comments concerning this bird although I regret that I cannot disclose its exact location at the request of the property owner.
Michael Stubblefield, M.D.
stubblem@mskcc.org
Text and images Copyright © Michael Stubblefield 2004.