Redpoll - Maree

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.”


Common Red-poll {Corduelis flammea}

I was visiting a friend last week to see how it's going with the Red Bishop she took over from me - he somehow lost a WHOLE wing as a fledgling in my garden - and I saw this little unknown bird (to me) in her aviary and enquired what it was. Turned out it's a Common Red-poll from the US, which she had bought at a pet shop. If I had my way, all pet shops would be banned from selling anything besides cats and dogs, and even that is a stretch for me.