Redpoll

Redpolls
Common redpoll in Oulu, Finland
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Acanthis Borkhausen, 1797
Type species
Fringilla linaria[1] = Acanthis flammea Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Acanthis flammea Acanthis cabaret Acanthis hornemanni
Synonyms
Carduelis

The redpolls (genus Acanthis) (in Great Britain also historically known as redpoles)^[2][3] are a group of small passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae, which have characteristic red markings on their heads. They are placed in the genus Acanthis.^[4][5] The genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now unidentifiable bird.^[6]

All redpolls are northern breeding woodland species, associated with birch trees (although there are introduced populations in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand, and nearby subantarctic islands). They are small birds, brown or grey-brown above and with a red forehead patch. The adult male's breast is washed in red, but in females and young birds, the buff breast and white belly are streaked with brown. The bill is small and yellow. Some birds, particularly young ones, are difficult to assign to species.

They are primarily seed-eaters, and often feed acrobatically like a tit; their diet may include some insects in summer. They have a dry reeling song and a metallic call. They lay four to seven eggs in a nest in a tree or, in the case of the Arctic redpoll, a large bush. They can form large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of redpolls is unsettled, with several different very closely related^[7] forms of redpolls which have been considered as anything from one to five species.^[8] Some studies^[9][10] favour three species, but this is certainly not definite. Global lists currently support either two species (the common and hoary redpoll)^[11] or a single species (the common redpoll).^[12] Most recently, genome-wide analyses found differences in gene expression but no genetic divergence, suggesting that plumage forms have originated recently, within a single interbreeding lineage, and do not represent species boundaries.^[13]

Species

The species are:

Genus Acanthis – Borkhausen, 1797 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Arctic redpoll or hoary redpoll Male Female	Acanthis hornemanni (Holbøll, 1843) Two subspecies A. h. hornemanni (Greenland Arctic redpoll or Hornemann's Arctic redpoll) A. h. exilipes (Coues' Arctic redpoll or hoary redpoll)	Greenland and neighbouring parts of Canada	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
common redpoll Male Female	Acanthis flammea (Linnaeus, 1758) Three subspecies A. f. flammea (mealy redpoll) A. f. islandica (Icelandic redpoll) A. f. rostrata (Greenland redpoll)	North America and the Palearctic	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
lesser redpoll Male Female	Acanthis cabaret (Müller, 1776)	Ireland, most of Great Britain, and the Alps; range has spread considerably across central and northern Europe in recent decades	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

References

Further reading

• Knox, A. G., and P. E. Lowther (2000). Hoary Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni). In The Birds of North America, No. 544 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
• Knox, A. G., and P. E. Lowther (2000). Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea). In The Birds of North America, No. 543 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
• Marthinsen, G.; Wennerberg, L.; Lifjeld, J.T. (2008). "Low support for separate species within the redpoll complex (Carduelis flammea–hornemanni–cabaret) from analyses of mtDNA and microsatellite markers". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (3): 1005–1017. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.027. PMID 18439841.

External links

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