A few birds from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Common Redpoll:Common Redpoll Uqviicaraq The word "common" definitely doesn't fit this tiny Alaskan bird. All you have to do is watch its behavior on a really cold winter day, and you'll decide it's really a most uncommon bird. It and its very close relative, the Hoary redpoll, qualify for Ripley's Believe it or Not as two of the hardiest bird species on earth, able to survive colder temperatures than any other songbird. Yupik people know redpolls by various names. Generally, they call them "uqviicar(aq)," which refers to their tendency to hang around willows and other trees ("uqvik or "uqviaq," mean willow or tree). In Hooper Bay they call the redpoll, "puyiitaar(aq)," and in Scammon Bay, "puyiir(aq)," both names referring to the smoky color of the feathers on its topside. Redpolls not only have smoke, they have fire. Get out your binocs and look at their flaming red caps and the flaming red chests of the male, especially in spring. Their scientific name, Carduelis flammea, recognizes its claim to flame, since "flammea" means exactly that in Latin. Carduelis is the more common half of its name, meaning "thistle seed eater." We don't have thistles in most of Alaska, so redpolls eat other foods, such as seeds from willows, alders and birch trees. Particularly during the short cold days of midwinter, they eat these seeds voraciously, storing them temporarily in a pocket-like pouch within their esophagus. During the long cold nights, this pouch serves as a lunchbox from which they slowly eat and digest their surplus seeds, thereby getting enough energy to maintain their regular daytime body temperatures. The way redpolls spend their nights also helps them survive Alaska's frigid winters. Some hide in tree cavities while others perch in protected nooks and crannies of spruce. During extremely cold nights they may burrow into the snow, as ptarmigan and grouse do. Another fascinating survival adaptation of redpolls is their dense winter plumage. Before winter begins they add 30 percent more down feathers to their body cover. These feathers insulate them so well that even at 60 degrees below zero (F) their core body temperature remains at 105 degrees (F). All of this makes for a very uncommon bird, wouldn't you agree? But, as with all unique birds, there are many things they have in common with the rest of their feathered friends. Their nests are rather ordinary little cups made by the female of twigs, grasses, mosses and feathers. They are built about 3-6 feet above ground in willows, alders and spruce trees. Four or five spotted bluish-green eggs are layed in these nests and incubated by the female. But here's something uncommon about them again. They are one of the earliest of Alaskan nesters, quite often even before the end of the freezing weather. It's like they've had enough of the cold and want to push spring to its limits. I remember in Marshall a few years ago showing my students a nest that had young in it even in mid-April. It was still frigidly cold out and we wondered if they would make it. We were amazed to see two of the young live to fledge. We often had immature redpolls awkwardly flying around by the time school ended in Marshall. Later in the summer it was interesting to watch the young birds as they flew in and out of their old nests. Sort of like some of my students after they graduated from high school. I'm watching redpolls around my bird feeders now. And they're living up to their name, eating voraciously from the thistles we recently put out for them.  |
