Gray-crowned Rosy Finch - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Old Fulica
Vancouver British Columbia, Canada, December 2004

Leucosticte tephrocotis

Identification

Length 6.25" (16cm.) Wingspan 13" (33cm.). Slender medium-sized bird with long wings and tail adapted for flight at altitude. Plain brown underparts, gray head with black throat and forehead; rosy-pink accents on shoulders and belly, triangular yellow bill. Females are slightly drabber. There are considerable variations in regional subspecies.

Similar Species

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Black Rosy-Finch. These are considered conspecific by some authorities. Range differences can help in identification; all have variation in plumage that can make separation tricky.

Photo by bstevent
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, March 2007

Distribution

Aleutian Islands to western Canada and northwest U.S. and eastern California. Winters east to western South Dakota and Nebraska. Accidental vagrant to eastern and midwestern United States.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Seven subspecies are recognized.^[1]

• L. t. umbrina:

• St Matthew Island and Pribilof Islands (Bering Sea)

• L. t. griseonucha:

• Komandorskiye, Aleutian Islands and Kodiak islands to Alaska

• L. t. littoralis:

• Central Alaska to south-western Yukon, western Canada and north-western US

• L. t. irvingi:

• Brooks Range (northern Alaska)

• L. t. tephrocotis:

• Mountains of Yukon and western Alberta to south-eastern British Columbia and north-western Montana

• L. t. wallowa:

• Wallowa Mountains (north-eastern Oregon); winters to western-central Nevada

• L. t. dawsoni:

• Eastern California (Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo mountains)

Habitat

Open ground in tundra areas; in winter open ground in mountainous regions to the south. Some populations are year-round in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western USA.

Behaviour

Hops on ground, foraging on tundra, or on high rocky terrain often near, or on, melting snow patches where insects can be found.

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of seeds, insects, buds and plant shoots.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2014)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Gray-crowned Rosy Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gray-crowned_Rosy_Finch

External Links

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