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Originally Posted by earthdragon64  Aren't Common and Mealy Redpoll the same species? As opposed to the Lesser Redpoll, which is the one that's resident in most of the UK. |
Yes Common is Mealy Redpoll, Carduelis flammea. The resident Lesser Redpoll, C. cabaret, was fairly recently split from this species.
I'm surprised in the new 2nd edition of the Collins Bird Guide Lesser is still treated as a sub-species.
Redpoll ID can be tricky with different sub-species with some overlapping characters.