2024 lump

Common and Hoary Redpoll are now one species

In 2024 Common, Hoary and Lesser Redpoll were merged into one species, now simply called Redpoll.

Updated

Two redpolls, small streaky finches with red caps, the male with a pink breast, on a branch with white berries
Redpolls, painted by John James Audubon. John James Audubon, The Birds of America (1827–38)

What changed

Was a species of its ownCommon Redpoll Acanthis flammea
Was a species of its ownHoary Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni
Was a species of its ownLesser Redpoll Acanthis cabaret
Now one speciesRedpoll Acanthis flammea

Nests across the far north, in Alaska and northern Canada and across northern Europe and Asia. In some winters it comes south to southern Canada and the northern US.

Who decided, and when

  • American Ornithological Society (AOS): the 65th Supplement to its Check-list of North American birds
  • American Birding Association (ABA): took Hoary Redpoll off the ABA Checklist
  • eBird and the Clements Checklist: its 2024 taxonomy update
  • AviList, the shared world checklist: agrees

Which bird is it now?

You don't need to any more. All redpolls count as one species.

The genetic studies behind the change found the redpolls hardly differ at all. The pale, frosty birds with tiny bills that used to be called Hoary Redpolls are still worth a look in the far north, but they no longer count on their own.

What it does to your list

If you had both Common and Hoary Redpoll on your list, your total went down by one.

If you had only one of them, your count stays the same; the bird is now just Redpoll. Your sightings themselves are all kept.

Check your own list. Drop your eBird download or type your birds: the free checker shows which of them this and other recent changes touched.

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