BT Edmonton Blogs

Redpoll ROLE CALL!!

Ian and Linda have winter visitors – and they treat them like royalty!    “Redpolls on my niger seed sock .   You can clearly see the red patch on the head of the male on the top.   Redpolls are frequent visitors in winter, not so much in the summer.   Here’s a little known fact:  They have throat pouches for temporarily storing seeds.   That way they can quickly fill those pouches with seeds and then fly to a more protected, warmer spot to eat them.   And we humans thought we had invented ‘Take Out’!!

DID YOU KNOW?    It’s common to see Redpolls in winter all across Alberta.    As spring approaches, they head to their arctic breeding grounds, but some do breed in extreme northeast Alberta.    And Ian feeds them right!    Their favorite meal is niger seed or sunflower seeds.    They also eat seeds from birch trees, grasses, and other plants.

YOU HAVE TO BE QUICK WITH THE CAMERA BECAUSE SOME BACKYARD VISITORS COME AND GO IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.    CAPTURE MOTHER NATURE OR ONE OF HER CRITTERS – UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO AND WATCH FOR IT ON BT AND THIS VERY BLOG.