General

Hoary Redpoll: Small finch (exilipes), with buff-gray, brown-streaked upperparts and brown-streaked white underparts washed pink. Head has red cap and black chin patch. Wings are black with two white bars. Rump is pale gray or white with few or no streaks. Tail is black and notched. Female lacks pink wash on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Hoary Redpoll: Breeds along Arctic coasts from western Alaska, across northernmost Canada, and the northern coasts of Greenland. Moves southward in winter through much of Alaska and Canada and northern states from North Dakota east. Inhabits weedy pastures and roadsides in winter; stays on tundra in summer.

Breeding and Nesting

Hoary Redpoll: Four to six green to blue green eggs spotted with red brown are laid in a nest made of twigs, grass, and rootlets, lined with soft grass, feathers and hair, and built in the middle of a low bush or on the ground sheltered by rocks or vegetation. Incubation ranges from 9 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Hoary Redpoll: Eats seeds and insects; forages on the ground and in bushes and trees.

Readily Eats

Sunflower, Nyjer

Vocalization

Hoary Redpoll: Song is a trill followed by a slow twitter "zzzzzz-chee-chee-chee-chee." Call is a plaintive "tweet."

Similar Species

Hoary Redpoll: Common Redpoll is more streaked and darker overall with a larger bill.