It’s been a strange, very cold, very wet Spring in Michigan. On the last day of April, we saw what I thought was our first Common Redpoll ever at our feeder. I’m referring to the chubby one on the left seeming to give the cold shoulder to the leaner male Purple Finch. He hung around for hours and did not fly away when we came near the feeder. Books describe Common Redpolls as being Chickadee-like in their approachability, which certainly was true of this fellow. Apparently a trusting nature makes the Common Redpoll an easy prey. Looking at photos and drawings of redpolls, I was not at all sure of my ID.

This fellow ate oiled sunflower seed after oiled sunflower seed. He did not chirp or sing. He flew from feeder to feeder. We watched him drinking from a puddle in the grass.  His feet looked like purple finch feet.  So did his tail.  I thought the beak was different, but then I started questioning that too.

The bird was not well. On MayDay, we found him dead near a tree in back of the house. No sign of trauma.

Our place by the lake was where he ended. He is memorialized in our log book of animal sightings. And now, here.  So, had we seen a very sick purple finch or a bird that is more of an exotic for Michigan?

Richard C. Hoyer, “birdernaturalist” on the knitting site Ravelry, identified him for me: a sick Purple Finch.  Richard says  “sick birds fluff up to retain body heat.”  I did not know that.