Newton Stringer
Well-known member
Hi again
You are not alone Paul, redpolls have inspired me too... in fact I have become somewhat obsessed. This winter has been a good opportunity to re-learn all of that forgotten info from the last 96 invasion.... and more !!
Yep pic 1 proves a point quite well, a VERY pale bird indeed, and as a result a very plain headed appearance too !
Can mealys be this pale ? Yes they can....... look at the birds structure, that long spikey bill (typically mealy) and red (not pink) in the breast, and it’s likely as this bird wears it's going to get redder !
Here's another pic of the same bird in a different posture, with breast feathers more ruffled, revealing a bit more red underneath.
If this was a male arctic showing that extent of pink you would expect a softer pink flush, I guess you would also expect it to be an adult male, and therefore show little or no flank streaking (and they would be fairly fine streaks too), this bird has quite obvious bold and diffuse flank streaks, again pointing towards mealy.
If it helps anymore this bird had a large white rump with a bit of a red flush on the lower half near the uppertail coverts, and it’s UTCs showed 1 fairly broad arrow shaped streak (again typically mealy).
I think the 2 key things that can really help when identifying difficult birds is being able to age them, and then being careful not to fall into the trap of focussing on 1 feature (such as an obvious white rump for example). A good combination of features is always required, not every bird will be perfect tho, and not every bird will be do-able.
Hope this helps rather than confuses ?!
