This Common Redpoll was photographed
at Laguna Vista, Cameron County, south Texas on May 28, 2002 by
Scarlet and George Colley. Despite the date and location it is
clearly a Redpoll, and clearly not a Hoary Redpoll (too much breast
streaking, and some fine marks evident on undertail coverts).
It is also a very worn individual, but with no signs indicative
of being in captivity (broken tail tips; oddly-formed feet or
claws); keep in mind that Redpolls have a complete molt in the
Fall and no molt in the Spring, so this plumage is consistent
with a wild bird on such a date. This extensive wear reduces the
white fringing of many feathers, exaggerating the darkness of
the plumage compared to birds seen in early Winter.
With such an outlandish event, one might ought to consider the
other forms from NW Europe (as possible escapes - but this initself
seems less likely than a natural occurance):- There are three
forms of Common Redpoll - also called Mealy Redpoll in Europe:-
rostrata (mainly from Greenland), islandica (from Iceland)
and the nominate flammea (from North America, northern Scandinavia, eastern Europe and Asia), plus
Lesser Redpoll C. cabaret from the British Isles (- mostly; also parts of NW Europe).
I know that Lesser Redpoll can be ruled out by the very light
undertail streaking visible on this bird, plus the apparent almost-unmarked
white rump (C. carabet is normally well-streaked in both
these areas). I am less certain of the distinctions between the
races of Common Redpoll, but I recall that nominate flammea
is the most likely to resemble Hoary Redpoll with regard to rump
and undertail coverts - yet can be darker in other plumage aspects
- just as in this bird. Also the rather long bill is apparently only found in some forms of flammea:
