REDPOLL
Acanthis linaria linaria (Linnæus)
Description.—Smaller than an English Sparrow; conical bill, sharply pointed; nostrils covered with tufts of bristling feathers. Adult male: Crown bright red; chin and upper throat blackish; neck and back grayish brown, streaked with buffy and whitish; rump grayish, tinged with pink; wings and tail dark brown, the wings with two white bars; breast and cheeks washed with delicate rosy pink; belly white; sides buffy streaked with blackish. Female: Similar, but more heavily streaked above and without pink on breast or rump. Length: 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rare and irregular winter visitor from the Far North. It sometimes occurs during the entire winter, but it is usually seen during the latter part, and chiefly in the northern counties.
Redpoll
Redpolls, like Goldfinches, swing about through the air with strongly undulating flight. They give a rasping, querulous squeal as they lift their crests and watch us. The birds are fond of weed seeds which they pick up from the snow. Usually they sit with feathers considerably fluffed out, and at such times the rosy breast of the male is noticeable.
GOLDFINCH
Astragalinus tristis tristis (Linnæus)
Other Names.—Salad Bird; Wild Canary; Thistle Bird; Yellow Bird.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow; bill sharply pointed. Adult male in summer: Bright lemon-yellow with black crown, wings, and tail, the wings crossed with two white bars, the lesser coverts yellow like the body, and the tail-feathers with their inner webs white; upper tail-coverts gray. Adult female in summer: Upperparts yellowish brown, the crown unmarked; below, dull yellowish; wings and tail more or less as in male, but not so black, nor so strikingly marked; lesser coverts dull olive-green. Adult male in winter: Like adult female, but lesser wing-coverts yellow; breast dull yellow; belly whitish; sides brownish. Young male in winter: Similar but the lesser wing-coverts are dull greenish or grayish. Young males in summer: Like the adult but the lesser coverts are dull greenish or grayish. Length: 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common permanent resident, somewhat irregular in winter, and often not known as a winter bird because of the complete change of color and habits.
Nest.—A compact, neatly built cup of weed-stalks and vegetable fiber, lined with soft materials, placed from 3 to 30 feet from the ground, often in a shade tree, on a branch extending over the highway. Eggs: 3 to 6, pale blue.
Goldfinch
Female Male
The Goldfinch is comparatively unknown as a winter bird. With the change of color the birds become wilder in disposition, no longer frequent the lawns and roadsides, and band together in large flocks. In summer the brightly colored males are very noticeable as they swing about among the flowers in a field or perch on dandelions in the yard. They are brilliant singers, even in winter, and may be recognized at a great distance in the summer by the flight-song, which has been written per-chick-o-ree, and which is repeated with each bound of the deeply undulating flight.