Brown-capped Rosy-Finch

Appearance

Size: L 6.25″

Shape: Fairly small, deep-bellied, small-headed bird with a short conical bill and

fairly short notched tail. Long primary projection past tertials. Bill shortest among

the rosy-finches.

Both Sexes: Breast feathers cold brown without blackish centers and with variable

gray to buffy fringes; extensive rose on lower breast and belly.

Adult Male: Blackish forehead blending to dark gray of hindcrown, which extends to

eye; this gray area on face does not contrast strongly with brown cheek. Extensive

pink on belly; deep pink on wings.

Adult Female: Brownish forehead that blends to grayish-brown hindcrown and rest

of face; little or no contrast on face; dull pink on belly, less extensive than on male;

pale pink on wings. Both sexes have blackish bill in summer, yellowish in winter.

Adult m.

1st Winter: Like adult but greater secondary coverts and primary edges mostly to all whitish (adult pink in these areas); little or no pink on underparts.

Juv: (June–Aug.) Grayish-brown overall with pinkish to buff wingbars.

Natural History

Nesting at ear-popping heights of up to 14,200 feet in their summer range, they have the distinction of breeding (along with their cousins, Black and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches) at the highest altitudes of any bird species in North America. A tight cup of roots and grasses anchored with mud is most often located in fissures and ledges of cliffs overlooking glaciers. You might need serious rock-climbing equip- ment and skills to reach some of the more remote nests. Due to the out-of-the-way nature of their breeding location, not many studies have been done.

Taxonomy

Monotypic

Object of study

All vocalisations.

Known Range

Is found from very southern Wyoming through Colorado to north-central New Mexico.

Flight Call

Peent or chew flight call given when 1 or more individuals take flight or are about to do so. seeer or zzeer call as well. Also a Weu call. Rosy Finches can also give a complex call note comprised of 2 ascending bands of frequencies and a partially overlapping descending band toward the end, lasting 1.5–2 s. Occurs singly or in a series (1–2/s). Made when birds begin to congregate in flocks. There appears to be much overlap in the flight calls of the three Rosy-Finches.

Preferred Foods

Various seeds from weeds and shrubs, but also found at feeders in lowland valleys during the winter.

Irruptions

Is an altitudinal migrant like the other two Rosy-Finches. All three Rosy-Finch species can occasionally be seen in mixed flocks some winters, particularly in areas of Colorado and Utah where all three species overlap.