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Sillem's Mountain Finch (1 Viewer)

2013

On OrientalBirding yesterday...
Sillem Mountain Finch

Dear Oriental Birders,
I went back to last year's Sillem Mountain Finch sighting location a few weeks ago and could see a few more birds and get some better pictures. I posted a blog entry about the trip on :
http://thewildernessalternative.com/2013/06/22/yeniugou-back-to-the-sillem-valley/
In short, it was a hard trip (again) and had only 2 sightings (1 male, 3 + 1 females) despite dedicating my time there to searching for the bird.
Looking for Sillem's Mountain Finch in a more accessible location near the Kunlun pass also proved unsuccessful.
Once i have time to read thought my notes thoroughly i will publish a more detailed blog entry focusing on Sillem's.
Good birding to all
Yann Muzika
Click to expand...
 
Genus

Melanie said:
Is Leucosticte the correct genus for this bird?
Click to expand...
TiF places it in Carpodacus:
Richard Klim said:
John Boyd (TiF):
www.jboyd.net/Taxo/changes.html [23 Oct 2012]
www.jboyd.net/Taxo/List29.html#fringillidae
Click to expand...
I've moved Sillem's Mountain-Finch, rediscovered in June 2012, from Leucosticte (Pyrrhulini) to Carpodacus based on a photo of what is believed to be the female. When Roselaar (1992) named Sillem's Rosefinch, he put it in Leucosticte. At the time, the female plumage was unknown. The other Leucosticte have female plumages that are only slightly different from the male, usually just duller. As Roselaar pointed out, if it has a distinctive female plumage, it would more likely related to Kozlowia (now part of Carpodacus) than to Leucosticte. Yann Muzika's photo of the probable female Sillem's shows a bird that is quite different from the adult male.
Click to expand...
It'll be interesting to see its treatment in H&M4 Vol 2, given that Kees Roselaar is one of the Regional Consultants.
 
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Thanks for the information, Richard. I am curious whether a DNA analysis is planned to reveal the relationships of the Sillem's Mountain Finch. If it will indeed move to Carpodacus the English name should be change to Sillem's Rosefinch
 
2013

Richard Klim said:
On OrientalBirding yesterday...
I went back to last year's Sillem Mountain Finch sighting location a few weeks ago and could see a few more birds and get some better pictures. I posted a blog entry about the trip on :
http://thewildernessalternative.com/2013/06/22/yeniugou-back-to-the-sillem-valley/
Yann Muzika
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Muzika 2014. Sillem's Mountain Finch Leucosticte sillemi revisited. BirdingASIA 21: 28–33.

[An account of Yann's return visit to the Yeniugou Valley in May 2013.]
Now that the continuing existence of Sillem's Mountain Finch has been proven, and as the female appears to resemble a Carpodacus rosefinch, the taxonomic status of sillemi should be reconsidered, with inclusion within Carpodacus a distinct possibility.
Click to expand...
 
2014

No publication or link but in case others were not aware, this bird (7 at least) was seen by Mark Beaman's Birdquest group recently. I don't know the exact spot but it surely must be within walking distance of the Golmud -Lhasa highway. It has long been speculated that they should be there but I'm not sure anyone had really looked before!

cheers, alan
 
lewis20126 said:
2014

No publication or link but in case others were not aware, this bird (7 at least) was seen by Mark Beaman's Birdquest group recently. I don't know the exact spot but it surely must be within walking distance of the Golmud -Lhasa highway. It has long been speculated that they should be there but I'm not sure anyone had really looked before!

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

Hi Alan! Hi Sillem's Mountain Finch lovers!

The notice from BirdQuest is here: http://www.birdquest-tours.com/news.cfm?Article=172

Alan, I'm wondering on what basis you're saying that the place where Beaman's group saw Sillem's "surely must be within walking distance of the Golmud-Lhasa Highway." According to the information I've gathered, so far the only place where Sillem's has been seen in Qinghai is at the site at Yěniúgōu (野牛沟), far from the G109 (i.e., the Golmud-Lhasa Highway).

On Friday, I'm flying to Golmud to search for Sillem's Mountain Finch. Our team consists of Brian Ivon Jones, Jan-Erik Nilsén, and me. We'll of course be looking for the other birds and amazing mammals of western Qinghai, but our No. 1 goal is Sillem's.

We plan to move the Sillem's ball forward in two ways: (1) Devote up to 15 days to Sillem's (most anyone has ever devoted), with the goal of finding the species at new sites and (2) acquire photo-field-guide-ready images of the species. I'm serving as writer and chief photographer of a photographic field guide to all 1,400+ species of bird in China.

We think it may be the case that what's rare in the Kunlun Mountains has been birders, and not necessarily Sillem's Mountain Finch. That wouldn't be surprising, given that the Kunlun Mountains traverse the most inaccessible and sparsely populated land on Earth outside Antarctica. Our expedition is just a drop in the bucket compared to what will be necessary to fully understand the range and population of Sillem's, but our diligent search may unearth hints useful to future researchers.

Yann Muzika, the rediscoverer of Sillem's in 2012, and Mark Beaman have generously shared information with us. We'll welcome any insights others can give us.
 
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Sangster, G., Roselaar, C.S., Irestedt, M. & Ericson, P.G.P. (in press) Sillem’s Mountain Finch Leucosticte sillemi is a valid species of rosefinch (Fringillidae). Ibis.

Abstract:
Sillem’s Mountain Finch Leucosticte sillemi was described in 1992 on the basis of an adult and an immature specimen collected in western Tibet in September 1929 but its taxonomic validity and phylogenetic position have been unclear. Based on phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA from the holotype, we show that L. sillemi is not a colour morph of L. brandti but represents a valid, overlooked species of rosefinch (Carpodacus) that has secondarily acquired a pale plumage convergent on that of Leucosticte. Sillem’s Mountain Finch is one of the least known species of birds and represents the only known species of rosefinch of which the males have lost all reddish plumage colouration. This species and its sister taxon, the Tibetan Rosefinch C. roborowskii, are likely the world’s highest-altitude sister-species pair of birds.
 
What happened to the idea to create the genus Kozlowia? (in particular as Sillem's mountain finch might be a sister taxon of the Tibetan rosefinch)?
 
thrush said:
On Friday, I'm flying to Golmud to search for Sillem's Mountain Finch.

We plan to move the Sillem's ball forward in two ways: (1) Devote up to 15 days to Sillem's (most anyone has ever devoted), with the goal of finding the species at new sites and (2) acquire photo-field-guide-ready images of the species.
Click to expand...

Criag, what were the results of the trip? Any photos or range information to share with us? Thanks.
 
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