Himalayan White-browed Rosefinch
Carpodacus thura
Medium-sized rosefinch of semi-open and brushy habitats. Male is beautiful, with a streaked rich brown back and lilac-pink cheeks, brow stripe, and underparts; note namesake bright white patch at the rear of the brow stripe. Female is streaky brown above and streaky off-white below, with a rusty breast patch. Very similar to Chinese White-browed Rosefinch, but range overlap is minimal; see that species’ account. Often gives a hoarse and nasal series of ascending notes: “beet-beet-beET-bEEt-bEEt!”
Identification
Medium-sized rosefinch of semi-open and brushy habitats. Male is beautiful, with a streaked rich brown back and lilac-pink cheeks, brow stripe, and underparts; note namesake bright white patch at the rear of the brow stripe. Female is streaky brown above and streaky off-white below, with a rusty breast patch. Very similar to Chinese White-browed Rosefinch, but range overlap is minimal; see that species’ account. Often gives a hoarse and nasal series of ascending notes: “beet-beet-beET-bEEt-bEEt!”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Carpodacus thura
- Authority
- Bonaparte & Schlegel, 1850
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Carpodacus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL, OR : sc Palearctic-w Oriental region border in subalpine forest and alpine scrub: ne Afghanistan and Himalayas of n Pakistan through Bhutan and adjacent s, se Tibet
- Non-breeding range
- some altitudinal movement
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Cantorchilus griseus
Small, short-tailed, plain gray wren. Note the thin white eyebrow. Found in the tangled understory of seasonally flooded Amazonian forests and adjacent clearings. The song is a loud repetition of “chu-choww” notes. Most likely to be confused with similar gray antbirds, which have shorter bills and unbarred tails.
Sepia-capped Flycatcher
Leptopogon amaurocephalus
Inconspicuous small flycatcher of humid tropical forest and edge. Usually found at middle levels inside forest and also in adjacent clearings where sometimes suspends its nest under the eaves of buildings, including ruins. Mainly sits quietly and fairly upright; at times sallies to pick insects from foliage. Note the grayish face with a dark ear patch, dark brownish (sepia) crown, and buffy wing edgings. Call is a stuttering froglike trill, given infrequently.
Ochre-browed Thistletail
Asthenes coryi
Tiny bird with a long, spiky red tail, a vocal and active resident of grass and bushes above treeline. Dull brown upperparts, grayish brown underparts, and a distinctive orange face and chin. Sexes similar. Not common and difficult to approach closely; often alone or in pairs foraging in paramo bushes or treeline borders. Song is an ascending series of high-pitched whistles “fuuuuuEE-peep-PEEP-PEE’REE!” Call is a soft, querulous “peew.” The only unstreaked Furnariid in the Venezuelan paramo. Endemic to the Andes of Venezuela.
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