What a difference two weeks makes. In mid-January, I watched cardinals, juncos, two kinds of nuthatches, blue jays, woodpeckers and an American tree sparrow, among others, at my front and back yard bird feeders.
There was one bird missing, though. One I relish seeing most in my yard in winter, the common redpoll.
Its name might make you think it’s common, but in northern Illinois, the redpoll lives in the north and flies south in winter if food is scarce. Some years, they seem to be everywhere, and this year they are staging what’s called an irruption in northern Illinois and other parts of the nation.
A goldfinch-sized bird, the redpoll has three signature markings, a magenta cap on its head, a yellow bill and a black throat. Males have different amounts of rosy wash on their breasts.
Starting in November, folks have been finding redpolls in natural areas, for example, at Lakewood Forest Preserve near Wauconda, where flocks had been seen feasting in alder trees surrounding a pond. In winter, they eat seeds from alder and birch trees, as well as seed heads of plants in fields.
Folks also have seen them at the Whitetail Prairie picnic area at Moraine Hills State Park. On Jan. 8, Lisa Maeir reported a flock of at least 250 redpolls feeding in alders at the Hickory Grove Riverfront.
“It was incredible,” she wrote on Facebook. “I have never seen so many in my life! We stood and watched them for around 45 minutes before they flew off in a cloud, streaming away like a flock of grackles in fall.”
It was good to know the redpolls were finding food, but I really wanted to see one at my feeder. When it got colder, and it snowed covering up some of their natural food sources, they began to appear more frequently at feeders filled with nyger seed.
The first one to land beside a goldfinch at my feeder elicited a shriek, “We’ve got a redpoll.”
More Top Picks Best Smart Speakers For Seniors
Within a day, a couple more arrived, including a brightly colored male. Within a week, a flock of 20 or more made daily appearances. We watched the nyger seed go down by at least six inches in the feeders every day as redpolls jockeyed with goldfinches and pine siskins to get at the dining table.
As I started to see redpolls at my feeder, friends on Facebook were reporting seeing them at their feeders as well and posting photos.
Redpolls are hardy birds that breed worldwide in northern tundra and pine woodlands. They can survive negative temperatures. According to the Cornell Lab, some redpolls spend the night tunneled beneath snow where it’s warmer than being out in the open.
Redpolls fly south in winter to find more food, and some are typically seen each winter in northern Illinois, but this year we’re seeing a lot more than just the typical few that show up at places like the Chicago Botanic Garden where there are alder and birch trees.
Each morning, I get a cup of coffee and watch the redpolls. Lately, with 50 or more, they have become feisty, trying to land atop one another to shoo their cousins off the feeders. A squirrel tried to land on the feeder, but didn’t succeed because we have a squirrel baffle. When it bounced off the feeder and onto the ground, the redpolls scattered, but they were back flying around, perching and eating almost immediately.
As with other birds, redpolls also eat snow. What a delight to see a rosy-breasted male redpoll poised on a shrub dipping its yellow bill into the snow and lapping up its thirst-quenching reward.
In early February, I counted close to 100 redpolls in my yard, but that’s not the most number of redpolls I’ve had at feeders. I could hear their loud, “chit, chit, chit,” as they flew to and from the feeders. On a snowy Wednesday, I relished seeing them feasting in my yard, and vowed to keep those feeders full through the storm.
Years ago, we counted 120 redpolls in the yard at one time. Then for years afterward, no redpolls visited our feeders in winter.
Ornithologists predict each fall whether large numbers of northern songbirds will fly south and show up in our Midwestern natural areas and yards. They aren’t always right, nor do they know exactly how big the flocks might be.
So it’s always a wonderful surprise when redpolls visit my humble yard. They transport the outside landscape into a makeshift wilderness, and in years when they are abundant, they provide a wonderful way to while away the winter.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected]