Acanthis flammea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll sighting in Toronto on a given day, based on 302 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 195th most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll in Toronto on a given day, against under 5% in April to February, 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.
27th of 34
Of the 34 cities where we can rate Common Redpoll sightings, Toronto ranks 27th at under 5%. The best odds are in Anchorage (United States, about 20%), Novosibirsk (Russia, about 20%) and Yekaterinburg (Russia, about 10%).
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Common Redpoll that you can see in Toronto (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are American Goldfinch (about 60%) and House Finch (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 Toronto (302 verified sightings), 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.
