Redpoll but which? (1 Viewer)

[dragnil]

I'm probably not alone in being confused with identification of Redpolls and I found this shot from Alaska in April 92, can anyone pin down which "type" it is please?
Thanks,
David

 

[abirdingguy]

The bill is quite large, the streaking is fairly heavy, and the bird isn't "frosty," so I'm leaning heavily towards common. I would need to review some photos before I could make this claim with high certainty.

 

[dragnil]

Thanks, it's the only image I have since scanning only a selection of my old trannies.

 

[abirdingguy]

To clarify - I was trying to say that my knowledge is a little rusty on this tricky species pair, so I should review online photos. After a quick check of online photos, your bird still very much looks like a of Common Redpoll. I just don't currently have the knowledge to make the call with 99.9+% certainty.

 

[dragnil]

Worry not, your knowledge is much better than mine!

 

[abirdingguy]

Maybe another way to put it is if I saw this bird, I wouldn't give a 2nd thought to it being a hoary instead of a common. Perhaps that is too cavalier though.