Redpoll

🔍 Overview

A tiny finch with a crimson cap, the Redpoll is a winter visitor to Sussex, occasionally forming flocks in birch woods and weedy patches.

🪶 Key Identification Features

Size: Small (11–13 cm)
Plumage: Brown streaky with red forehead and bib
Distinctive Marks: Black chin, red forehead
Bill: Small and conical
Tail: Forked
Flight: Bouncing, finch-like

🗺️ Habitat & Distribution

Seen at Pulborough Brooks, Hollingbury Hill, Cissbury and garden feeders during cold snaps.

🎶 Voice & Behaviour

Metallic “chit-chit” and trills. Acrobatic feeders on catkins.

🍴 Diet

Seeds (especially birch, alder), insects in summer.

📸 Birding Tip

Watch flocks of siskin and goldfinch—Redpolls often mix in.