White-winged snowfinch
| White-winged snowfinch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Suborder: | Passeri |
| Infraorder: | Passerida |
| Superfamily: | Passeroidea |
| Family: | Passeridae |
| Genus: | Montifringilla |
| Species: | M. nivalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Montifringilla nivalis (Linnaeus, 1766) | |
The white-winged snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis), or just snowfinch, is a small passerine bird. Despite its name, it is a sparrow rather than a true finch.
Distribution and habitat
It is a resident breeding species on bare mountains, typically above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), across southern Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Corsica, Balkans) and through central Asia to western China. It nests in crevices or rodent burrows, laying 3–4 eggs.
Description
The white-winged snowfinch is a large stocky snowfinch at 16.5–19 centimetres (6.5–7.5 in) in length. It has brown upperparts, white underparts and a grey head. There is a long narrow white wing panel. In summer, the bill is black, and there is a black bib. The bib is lost in winter and the bill becomes yellow. Sexes are similar.
In flight, it shows black wings with huge white wing panels, and a white edged black tail. This bird has a chattering song with many trills, and variety of rolling or creaky calls.
Behaviour
The white-winged snowfinch's food is mainly seeds with some insects. It is fearless, and will forage around ski resorts. It is hardy, and rarely descends below 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) even in hard winter weather.
Taxonomy
There are four subspecies. The darkest-coloured subspecies, M. n. henrici of Tibet and western China has earth-brown upperparts and crown, and greyer underparts. It is sometimes split as Henri's snowfinch or Tibetan snowfinch (M. henrici). However, the name Tibetan snowfinch, confusingly, more often refers to the black-winged snowfinch (M. adamsi).
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Montifringilla nivalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- Lei, F.-M.; Wang, A.-Z.; Wang, G.; Yin, Z.-H. (2005). "Vocalization of red-necked snow finch, Pyrgilauda ruficollis on the Tibetan Plateau, China – a syllable taxonomic signal?" (PDF). Folia Zoologica. 54 (1–2): 135–146.