The gray-crowned rosy finch or gray-crowned rosy-finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) is a species of passerine bird in the family Fringillidae native to Alaska, western Canada, and the north-western United States. Due to its remote and rocky alpine habitat it is rarely seen. There are currently six recognized subspecies. It is one of four species of rosy finches.

Taxonomy

thumb|left|190px|Female - Sandia Peak - New Mexico

The gray-crowned rosy finch was first classified by English ornithologist William Swainson in 1832. This bird has been thought to form a superspecies with three other rosy finches (also known as mountain finch): black rosy finch (L. atrata) and the brown-capped rosy finch (L. australis), all of which were classified as the same species as the Asian rosy finch (L. arctoa) from 1983 to 1993. Recent mitochondrial DNA evidence shows the rosy finches are all indeed very closely related and can be easily confused with one another. Along with one Asian rosy finch and two Asian mountain finches, the three North American rosy finches form the mountain finch genus Leucosticte. Alternative common names include: Roselin à tête grise (in French), Schwarzstirn-Schneegimpel (in German), and Pinzón Montano Nuquigrís (in Spanish).

Subspecies

Six subspecies of the gray-crowned rosy finch are now recognized, though proposals for additional subspecies have been recognized.

  • L. t. griseonucha (J. F. Brandt, 1842) Commander Island, and Aleutian Islands (including Shumagin Island and Semidi Island) east to Alaskan Peninsula; non-breeding south to Kodiak Island.
  • L. t. umbrina (O. Murie, 1944) Hall Island, St. Matthew Island and Pribilof Islands, in Bering Sea.
  • L. t. littoralis (S. F. Baird, 1869) also known as "Hepburn's rosy-finch", "gray-headed rosy-finch", "gray-cheeked rosy-finch", breeds in south-central Alaska east to western Canada (SW Yukon, NW British Columbia) and western United States from Washington and Oregon (along Cascade Mountains) to northern California (Mt Shasta); winters in southern section of breeding range East to central Montana, western Nevada, northern Utah and central New Mexico.
  • L. t. tephrocotis (Swainson, 1832) also known as "brown-cheeked rosy-finch", breeds northern & central Alaska east to northwest Canada (central Yukon, British Columbia, western Alberta) and northwest United States (northwest Montana); winters from southern British Columbia east to southwest Saskatchewan and South Dakota, south to northeast California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado and northern New Mexico.
  • L. t. wallowa (A. H. Miller, 1939) breeds northeast Oregon (Wallowa Mts); winters South to west-central Nevada and central-east California.
  • L. t. dawsoni (J. Grinnell, 1913) eastern California (Sierra Nevada and White Mts).

Description

thumb|left|Gray-crowned rosy finch L. t. littoralis - [[Mount Adams (Washington)|Mount Adams, Washington]]

Within the finch family, the gray-crowned rosy finch is medium-large with a comparatively long notched tail and wing. 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. Adult females and juveniles are similar. Overall length is , wingspan , and weight . L. t. wallowa has an almost entirely gray head. The Pribilof and Aleutian subspecies have a length of and weight of , about twice the size of the other subspecies. The black rosy finch has a black instead of brown body and the brown-capped rosy finch is a lighter brown and lacks the gray face patch.

Distribution and habitat

The ancestor of the three species of North American rosy finches migrated from Asia. All rosy finches live in an alpine or tundra environment. The gray-crowned rosy finch has a wide range

Further reading

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.

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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.

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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;548–552.
  • Johnson RE. (1975). New Breeding Localities for Leucosticte in the Contiguous Western USA. Auk. vol 92, no 3. pp.&nbsp;586–589.
  • Johnson RE. (1977). Seasonal Variation in the Genus Leucosticte in North America. Condor. vol 79, no 1. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;3786–3794.
  • Mundinger PC. (1979). Call Learning in the Carduelinae Ethological and Systematic Considerations. Systematic Zoology. vol 28, no 3. pp.&nbsp;270–283.
  • Murphy ME & King JR. (1982). Semi Synthetic Diets as a Tool for Nutritional Ecology. Auk. vol 99, no 1. pp.&nbsp;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, pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;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. pp.&nbsp;917–925.

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