The Common Redpoll is an abundant finch of northern regions around the world. Redpolls occurthroughout Alaska, thriving in habitats ranging from boreal to tundra across a wide elevationgradient (Knox and Lowther 2000). This species nests in trees when available. In tundra habitats,they nest in willows (primarily along riparian areas) or on the ground (Knox and Lowther 2000,J. Liebezeit, unpublished data). While primarily a seed eater, in summer this species consumesarthropods to feed young (Knox and Lowther 2000). Common Redpolls winter as far north as theBrooks Range but will wander further south in irruptive years when seed-crop production fails(Knox and Lowther 2000). While their global population numbers in the millions, they arebelieved to be experiencing an overall population decline (Rich et al. 2004).
