Acanthis flammea
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% 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 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll sighting in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, based on 82 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 93 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Redpoll in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, against about 20% in July to September, the lowest months. That is one of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 130 mm in August. October to January have too few records to rate.
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.
4th of 32
Of the 32 parks where we can rate Common Redpoll sightings, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park ranks 4th at about 40%. The best odds are in Arthur's Pass National Park (New Zealand, about 60%), 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 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are White-winged Crossbill (about 40%), Pine Grosbeak (about 20%) and Pine Siskin (about 10%), 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 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (82 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.
