: late Oct-early Apr with from early Oct and to early May. When present they are noisy and conspicuous in weedy fields, alder and birch groves. Redpolls sometimes arrive in numbers as late as Feb/early Mar and these late influxes often end up at bird feeders. There are no mid May-mid Oct records.
Miscellany: Redpoll ‘irruptions’ occur when the seed crop of northern trees, especially spruce and birch, fails forcing the birds to move south in search of food. These seed crops are often on a two-year cycle but the failure rate in ‘off’ years varies; when it’s very high, we get our biggest invasions of Redpolls. These large irruptions often carry with them a few "Hoary" Redpoll, formerly a separate species but now considered just a fairly distinctive population of Redpoll. That said, none have been recorded in our area.
Last Updated: November 15th, 2025