Munich South, Germany: Common or Arctic Redpoll? (2 Viewers)

[claudiastaab]

Hi all,
I was wondering about a very light redpoll that I saw today in a flock of about 50 common redpolls.
Any chance this could be an arctic redpoll? It is the one on the left and the one in the middle on the 1st and 2nd pic, respectively.
Unfortunately I do not have any pics of the bird's back.
Many thanks,
Claudia

 

[Andy Hurley]

Hi Claudia,
if you look at the under-tail coverts you can see a black stripe. It should be, according to the Collins Bird Guide 2nd edition by Lars Svenson et al, narrow on the Arctic and broader on the Common. The wings are not seen due to angle/position, but the stripes on the flanks seem ok for Common. I think it's a 1st/female Winter Common, but others may have a better idea.

 

[THE_FERN]

I don't believe there's more than one redpoll species, but this looks like the arctic form to me. I think it corresponds to one or other of the headline ebird photos for "arctic redpoll". For example, the undertail coverts look like this:

ML287403361 Hoary Redpoll Macaulay Library

(Other photos there show greater or lesser flank streaking). Even if this isn't that form, I think the images show the difficulty of making a categorical distinction between these 2 "species"

 

[Andy Hurley]

Thanks Fern, that answers some difficulty I was having trying to pin this one down. As far as the argument about whether they should all just be sub-species of the same species is concerned, I don't get involved. Apart from anything else, it's a pain in the arse trying to keep on top of annual updates, let alone the bird photos I have already sorted through.

 

[THE_FERN]

(I think the argument is that these are different "forms" rather than "subspecies" as such. i.e. we get a spectrum of types which regularly overlap in distribution)