Great Rosefinch
Carpodacus rubicilla
As the name suggests, a large rosefinch. Male is bright pink with a dark face and frosty specks on the underparts. Female is streaky brown all over. Very similar to Streaked Rosefinch; look out for unstreaked upperparts in the male and softer, larger white spots on the underparts. Prefers more sparsely vegetated areas at higher elevations than Streaked Rosefinch, favoring alpine and subalpine scree slopes, boulder fields, and other open and barren environments; descends into similar habitat in the winter. Gives various chips, cheeps, and wheezy notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Carpodacus rubicilla
- Authority
- (Güldenstädt, 1775)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Carpodacus
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : sc Palearctic in Caucasus; Pamirs to Altai and Himalaya in barren or stunted alpine zone: sw Russia, n Georgia and n Azerbaijan in c, e Caucasus Mts.; disjunctly ec Afghanistan to ec Kazakhstan, w, n Xinjiang (nw China), Altai of sc Russia and w Mongolia; in s through s, se Tibet and Inner Himalayas e through Qinghai (nc China)
- Non-breeding range
- somewhat lower to villages, fields
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle
Geranoaetus melanoleucus
Large raptor with broad wings and short tail. Fairly common and widespread in South America, from high elevations in the Andes of Colombia to the lowlands in Tierra del Fuego. Adults have a dark gray head and breast contrasting with a white belly. Wings are silvery-gray from above; from below, the coverts are white contrasting with dark flight feathers. Note the shape in flight with bulging secondaries, tapered wingtips, and a very short tail. Young birds are brown and streaky, tricky to distinguish from Variable Hawk. Look for bulkier shape and shorter, more graduated tail.
Sulawesi Pitta
Erythropitta celebensis
A round-bodied, short-tailed, long-legged terrestrial bird with a red belly. Broad, iridescent blue chest band is bordered with thick black lines. Reddish-brown crown shows an indistinct blue line. Also shows paler brown cheeks and green upperparts. Juvenile is brown with a pale bill base and gray eyes. Singles or pairs forage on forest floor in lowlands and foothills. Unmistakable in limited range on Sulawesi and adjacent islands. Song is a drawn-out, two-part whistle with a longer, trembling first note followed by a falling, mournful note: “waaaaaaaop-wooowow,” as is typical of the genus.
White-chinned Sapphire
Chlorestes cyanus
Small hummingbird with straight bill, green nape and back with a coppery rump and dark tail. Males usually look very dark in the field but in the right light shows a violet-blue head,an often indistinct whitish chin, and are green below. The bill is red with a black tip. Females have green heads, speckled throats, and an off-white belly. Found in the interior and edge of humid forest, forest edges, and second growth.
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