Gray-crowned Rosy Finch

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Gray-crowned Rosy Finch

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Genus: Leucosticte
Species: L. tephrocotis
Binomial name
Leucosticte tephrocotis
(Swainson, 1832)

The Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, is a medium-sized finch.

Adults are brown on the back and breast and mainly pink on the rest of the underparts and the wings. The forehead and throat are black; the back of the head is grey. They have short black legs and a long forked tail. There is some variability in the amount of grey on the head.

Their breeding habitat is rocky islands and barren areas on mountains from Alaska to the northwestern United States. They build a cup nest in a sheltered location on the ground or on a cliff.

These birds are permanent residents on some islands and in the Canadian Rockies. Other birds migrate south to the western United States.

These birds forage on the ground, many fly to catch insects in flight. They mainly eat seeds from weeds and grasses, and insects. They often feed in small flocks.

At one time, this bird, the Black Rosy Finch and the Brown-capped Rosy Finch were considered to be the same species as the Asian Rosy Finch.

One of the best places to view all three North American species of Rosy-Finches is at the Crest House as they winter in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque. Visit www.rosyfinch.com for details.

Contents

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Book

  • MacDougall-Shackleton, S. A., R. E. Johnson, and T. P. Hahn. 2000. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis). In The Birds of North America, No. 559 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

[edit] Thesis

  • Hartzell PL. Ph.D. (2005). Pacific Northwest glacial ecosystems. Clark University, United States -- Massachusetts.
  • Richardson MI. Ph.D. (2003). Ecology, behavior and endocrinology of an alpine breeding bird, the grey-crowned rosy finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis). University of Washington, United States -- Washington.

[edit] Articles

  • Airola DA. (1981). Recent Colonization of Lassen Peak California USA by the Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch Leucosticte-Tephrocotis. Western Birds. vol 12, no 3. p. 117-124.
  • Arbogast MR. (1974). Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch Hepburns Form at Aberdeen. South Dakota Bird Notes. vol 26, no 1.
  • Behle WH. (1973). Further Notes on Rosy Finches Wintering in Utah. Wilson Bulletin. vol 85, no 3. p. 344-346.
  • Helmin GA & Helmin GE. (1973). 4th Minnesota Observation in 80 Years. Loon. vol 45, no 1.
  • Hukkanen RR, Richardson M, Wingfield JC, Treuting P & Brabb T. (2003). Avipox sp. in a colony of gray-crowned rosy finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis). Comparative Medicine. vol 53, no 5. p. 548-552.
  • Johnson RE. (1975). New Breeding Localities for Leucosticte in the Contiguous Western USA. Auk. vol 92, no 3. p. 586-589.
  • Johnson RE. (1977). Seasonal Variation in the Genus Leucosticte in North America. Condor. vol 79, no 1. p. 76-86.
  • Ludwig F. (1974). Minnesotas 3rd Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch. Loon. vol 46, no 2.
  • MacDougall-Shackleton SA & Hahn TP. (1999). Photorefractoriness and the evolution of reproductive flexibility in cardueline finches. American Zoologist. vol 39, no 5.
  • MacDougall-Shackleton SA, Katti M & Hahn TP. (2006). Tests of absolute photorefractoriness in four species of cardueline finch that differ in reproductive schedule. Journal of Experimental Biology. vol 209, no 19. p. 3786-3794.
  • Mundinger PC. (1979). Call Learning in the Carduelinae Ethological and Systematic Considerations. Systematic Zoology. vol 28, no 3. p. 270-283.
  • Murphy ME & King JR. (1982). Semi Synthetic Diets as a Tool for Nutritional Ecology. Auk. vol 99, no 1. p. 165-167.
  • Pereyra ME, MacDougall-Shackleton SA, Sharbaugh SM, Morton ML, Katti M & Hahn TP. (2001). Relationships between photorefrac-toriness and reproductive flexibility in cardueline finches. American Zoologist. vol 41, no 6.
  • Rising JD. (2001). Geographic variation in size and shape of Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). Studies in Avian Biology. vol 23, p. 1-65.
  • Shreeve DF. (1980). Behavior of the Aleutian Gray-Crowned Rosy Finches Leucosticte-Tephrocotis-Griseonucha and Brown-Capped Rosy Finches Leucosticte-Tephrocotis-Australis. Ibis. vol 122, no 2. p. 145-165.
  • Shreeve DF. (1980). Differential Mortality in the Sexes of the Aleutian Alaska USA Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch Leucosticte-Tephrocotis-Griseonucha. American Midland Naturalist. vol 104, no 1. p. 193-197.
  • Spicer GS. (1978). A New Species and Several New Host Records of Avian Nasal Mites Acarina Rhinonyssinae Turbinoptinae. Journal of Parasitology. vol 64, no 5. p. 891-894.
  • Yang S-J, Lei F-M & Yin Z-H. (2006). Molecular phylogeny of rosefinches and rose bunting (Passeriformes, Fringillidae, Urocynchramidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica. vol 31, no 3. p. 453-458.
  • Yarbrough CG. (1970). The Development of Endothermy in Nestling Gray-Crowned Rosy Finches Leucosticte-Tephrocotis-Griseonucha. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology. vol 34, no 4. p. 917-925.

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