Brown Redpoll (1 Viewer)

[Doc Duck]

Last Friday was the last round of our monthly winter bird count. After our respective assigned routes, we finish up at the Botanical Garden where we check out the feeder area and then head in to the cafe to warm up and report our numbers. At the feeder area a flock of Redpolls arrived, as per usual this time of year. This time, a couple of them did not look like our usual Common Redpolls, though. At least two of the birds were very brown with orangey-brown breasts, brown wing bars, and brown rather than off-white ear coverts. In Norwegian, Lesser Redpolls are called "Brunsisik" [Brown Redpolls], buuuut ... those should be noticeably smaller than the Commons, and these were pretty much the same size as their paler cousins - as you can see in photos 1 and 2, where one of the ordinary pale ones is posed in front. So ... we 8 avid birders, some of us (not me) even with ornithology degrees, were all uncertain. I did get pictures, so I agreed to submit them here to check. What say you, ID forum folks? Lessers, or hybrids, or just darker coloured Commons?

 

[jogresh]

Given the large size, and brown flanks with heavy black streaking, have you considered rostrata?
In the UK we've several times recently had airflows originating down the eastern side of Greenland but I don't know about Trondheim.

 

[Doc Duck]

Ahhh! That looks right! Hadn't thought of those. Given that we've had some strong westerly winds this winter, that could well be. Thank you!