Redpoll

Males deliver a long, rising series of twittering notes that cascade into a dry trill, often given in flight or from treetops during courtship.

Breeds across the circumpolar sub-Arctic; winters irregularly farther south across Canada, northern United States, and Eurasia, with numbers varying in multi-year “irruption” cycles driven by seed crops.

Boreal birch-spruce forests, shrub tundra, willow thickets, and weedy openings; in winter, often found in open woodlands, fields, and urban areas with seed feeders.

Breeding May–July above 50° N; migrates south Aug–Oct; most visible in temperate latitudes Nov–Mar; returns north Apr–May.

A Redpoll is a tiny, energetic finch of Arctic and boreal country, marked by a crimson forehead, a small conical bill, and variable streaking. In irruption years, busy flocks roam south to birches, weedy fields, and feeders.