400 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part i 



ACANTHIS HORNEMANNI EXILIPES (Coues) 



Hoary Redpoll 



PLATE 22 



Contributed by Paul Herbert Baldwin 



Habits 



The hoary redpoll is a circumpolar inhabitant of arctic regions. 

 Its range extends wholly across northern Eurasia and the North 

 American continent from Ungava to northwestern Alaska. It breeds 

 in the far north and winters in northern and temperate latitudes 

 southward to the northern United States. It is noteworthy for its 

 sporadic appearances and for its sudden fluctuations in number from 

 year to year in the wintering range. It is rarely seen in settled 

 districts. 



This bird is similar in appearance to the common redpoll (Acanthis 

 Jiammea flammea) , but it is whiter and often lacks the streaking on the 

 under tail coverts. Apparently the darker individuals of this race are 

 difficult to distinguish in the field from the common redpoll, with 

 which it is very often found in company. 



The southern parts of its breeding range extensively overlap the 

 northern part of that of the common redpoll, where its habits are 

 said to be indistinguishable from those of the latter species (Nelson, 

 1887). 



In northern Alaska the hoary redpoll may be found breeding 

 generally in the tundra biome where scattered low shrubs occur. It 

 seeks the willows and alders of the drainage channels or hillsides and 

 tends to avoid the flat tundra. However, in midsummer, cottongrass 

 (Eriophorum) seeds mature and provide a food resource attracting the 

 redpoll to open places it may not have visited earlier in the summer. 

 In late summer it wanders around joining other species and races of 

 redpoUs to travel in mixed flocks throughout the winter. 



Territory. — The hoary redpoll is not a territorial bird. Its nests 

 may be grouped closely together, often with several nests in one small 

 clump of bushes. The adult birds freely leave the vicinity of the 

 nest. Gregarious behavior continues through the nesting season with 

 the birds flitting about in loose flocks or all stopping to feed together 

 in some spot that attracts them. 



In 1953 P. PI. Baldwin and E. B. Reed (Baldwin, MS.) found that 

 at Umiat, Alaska, territorial behavior was either lacking or at a low 

 ebb during the middle and late parts of the breeding period. They 

 recorded no singing as taking place on perches near nests. On one 

 occasion, however, a male was seen to chase another male from the 

 nest. Gregarious behavior continued through the nesting period, as 



