Grey-crowned Rosy Finch

Overview

The grey-crowned rosy finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) is a medium-large passerine bird native to Alaska, western Canada, and the north-western United States. It is one of four recognised species of rosy finch and is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Adults are brown on the back and breast, with pink underparts and wings, a black forehead and throat, and a grey crown.
• Medium-large in size with a long, forked tail and short black legs.
• Overall length ranges from 140 to 160 mm for most subspecies, though Aleutian and Pribilof subspecies are significantly larger at 170 to 210 mm.
• Call is a buzz-sounding 'chew'.

Habitat

Inhabits remote, rocky alpine or tundra environments, including snowfields and scree slopes. Its range covers Alaska, western Canada, and the north-western United States, with some subspecies residing permanently in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. It is rarely seen due to the difficulty of accessing these extreme breeding altitudes.

Diet

Forages on the ground and flies to catch insects in flight. In summer, it mainly eats insects such as cutworms caught in updrafts and frozen in snowfields, while in winter it consumes seeds from weeds and grasses like Russian thistle, mustard, and sunflower.

Did you know?

Both sexes develop throat pouches, known as gular pouches, to carry food to their chicks, a trait seen in only one other North American genus, Pinicola.