
Breeding Male
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Altitude 5100 feet, Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 20 April 2025
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Altitude 5100 feet, Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 20 April 2025
- Carpodacus erythrinus
Identification

Female
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Altitude 5100 feet, Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 20 April 2025
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Altitude 5100 feet, Almora, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 20 April 2025
Male
- Bright rosy-pink head, breast and rump
- Dark brown wings
- 2 wing bars
- White belly
- Heavy bill
Female
- Yellowish-brown upperparts
- Brighter rump
- Buff underparts
- Grey head
Distribution
Breeding in Sweden, eastern Europe and Siberia, northern Iran, Pakistan, China, Tibet, and Japan.
Winters in south east China, Indochina, Burma, India and southern Iran.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
This is a polytypic species, consisting of five subspecies:
- C. e. erythrinus:
- C. e. grebnitskii:
- C. e. kubanensis:
- Caucasus to north-western Iran; winters to south-western Iran
- C. e. ferghanensis:
- Mountains of north-eastern Iran to northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and western Himalayas
- C. e. roseatus:
Habitat
Ssp. roseatus : Immature Male
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Alt. 5200 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, April-2017
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Alt. 5200 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, April-2017
Woodland, forest edge, thickets, near water.
Behaviour
Diet
They mainly eat seeds, buds and shoots.
Breeding
They nest in low bushes. The clutch consists of 5 brown-spotted, dark blue eggs.
Vocalisation
They sing from an exposed perch.
Gallery
Click images to see larger version
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Wikipedia
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Common Rosefinch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Rosefinch
External Links
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