Red Polls at our feeders

The most interesting bird we've had at feeders in the last few weeks have been the Redpolls. Most of them are undoubtedly Common Redpolls. And, at the moment, they are common. I've counted up to 40 at the feeders at one time, but I know they are also in the lilacs on the west side of the house and in the trees in the garden. It would be fun to try to estimate how many are in the yard, but despite the calendar date of April 15, the snow drifts are keeping me from too many forays into the further reaches of our yard.  I am enjoying the birds at the feeder however, even when they scrap with each other, which is most of the time.

The males get the most attention. How can they help it with their bright colours? In the beginning we seemed to have many times more females, but the numbers have been much more even since the beginning of April. I'm wondering if this meant that many of the birds were actually immatures that didn't have their full colour yet, or if the males were eating at someone else's feeder?

  The females are less red, but generally have more striping.

 And then there are the Redpolls that are even less common. I feel this bird is likely a Hoary Redpoll. It has little striping on its sides and the pink is much paler.

 And this bird may well be a female Hoary Redpoll. Compared to the one eating the suet above, she is very light, though she has darker striping than the one above that I assume is a male Hoary.

Now in my list of most common to least common, here is my most favourite of Redpolls. While some are red and some are pink, this male is

 

orange!