The Common Redpoll is a species of finch that breeds in high tundra habitat. During the winter many birds head south, sometimes in great numbers depending on natural food supplies. When redpolls head south in large numbers (sometimes along with other so-called "winter finches"), it is known as an irruption.
Common Redpolls are found in suitable habitat across the northern half of North America, and across northern parts of Eurasia. Common Redpolls are social and tend to travel in large, gregarious groups. These birds of the north are know to be able to survive temperatures as low as -65F - sometimes by tunneling under snowbanks to stay warm!
"Red poll" refers to the patch of red on the bird's crown. Common Redpolls are similar to Hoary Redpolls but they can be told apart by their darker plumge and slightly larger bill.
The Common Redpoll is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2013 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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