Acanthis flammea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The redpoll (Acanthis flammea) is a species of small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Acanthis. It breeds in the Arctic and north temperate Holarctic tundra and taiga. The redpoll was formerly widely treated as three species: the common or mealy redpoll, the arctic or hoary redpoll (A. hornemanni), and the lesser redpoll (A. cabaret).
The redpoll was listed in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flammea. The specific epithet flammea is Latin meaning "flame-coloured". Linnaeus also described the redpoll as Fringilla linaria on the same page, but the earlier name flammea has priority.
The redpoll was previously placed in the genus Carduelis. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it formed a distinct lineage, so it was moved to the resurrected genus Acanthis that had been introduced in 1797 by the German naturalist Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen. The genus name Acanthis is from Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird.
Five subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Minsk | 🇧🇾 Belarus | |
| 6 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 8 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Stockholm | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoopark Limpopo | 🇷🇺 Russia |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll sighting in Arthur's Pass National Park on a given day, based on 558 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 48 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and November–December
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll in Arthur's Pass National Park on a given day, against about 30% in May to July, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Redpoll sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 32 parks where we can rate Common Redpoll sightings, Arthur's Pass National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (New Zealand, about 50%) and Denali National Park (United States, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Common Redpoll that you can see in Arthur's Pass National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Chaffinch (about 90%), European Greenfinch (about 30%) and Eurasian Goldfinch (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Redpoll is recorded against all the birds logged in Arthur's Pass National Park (558 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
