Redpolls...again.

[Xurek]

Hey guys,

Another post from me regarding redpolls. I see up to six redpolls regularly in the garden now. But two out of the 6 seem slightly different. I was watching them all feeding for a couple hours yesterday and referring to ID books but I just don't have any confidence in my skills yet. The two in question are slightly larger and overall look paler than the other four who look smaller and definately darker / more brown. Below are some images of one of the ones I think is different. Could these two be Mealy Redpolls? Or I am I just trying to see something that isn't there?





Thanks for your time.

P.S. location is south-east side of Northern Ireland.

[RoyW]

These images all look like Lesser Redpolls to me (even allowing for the fact that they are likely to look darker on my dying monitor than they actually are).

Lesser Redpolls often do look quite grey, particularly on the head, and also tend to have whitish wing bars at this time of year
The cheeks and flanks/breast sides still seem to have the buffish wash typical of Lesser in these photos.

[Xurek]

Thanks Roy much appreciated!

So if they had been Mealies what features would confirm it?

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Xurek

So if they had been Mealies what features would confirm it?

Can I 'pass' on this question?

Take a look at this website, which I think gives quite a good illustrated guide.
The larger, paler Mealy Redpolls tend to stand out quite well. Females, especially immature females can be more difficult though - and it may be necessary to leave some unidentified.

[Xurek]

Thanks again Roy, some interesting reading