With reports of Hoary Redpolls surfacing on Cobirds and E-bird, I have been trying to get better looks at redpolls in the large flock hanging out at the east end of Lee Martinez Park and visiting the feeders at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery which recently opened there. I photographed >10 individuals on 23 December and 30 December, and these photos are posted at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/redpolls2012. I think I see one or two with small bills, and I think I see one or two with 3 or fewer streaked undertail coverts, and several that seem to approach Sibley's drawing of the southern Hoary Redpoll, but I lack confidence in identifying any of these as Hoary Redpoll. The photos show a tremendous variation, which makes me even less confident about identifying Hoary, and even suspicious that Hoary and Common may actually belong to a single species. Anyway, comments from others are welcome (probably would be appreciated by other list members also, so consider sending the comments to the listserve). I would especially be interested if you think any of these are candidate Hoary. If anyone has photographed a Hoary in Colorado, I would certainly like to see those photos.
Nick Komar
Fort Collins CO
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