Alterntive names: Red-browed Finch; Red-spectacled Finch; Red-browed Rosefinch
- Callacanthis burtoni
Identification
17-18 cm. A large finch with a conical bill and a distinctive face pattern.
- Scarlet forehead and spectacles on black head
- Rusty mantle
- Some red streaks on underparts
- Black wings with large white carpal patch and spots on coverts, tertials and tips of flight feathers
- Notched black tail with white outer rectrices and tips (sometimes worn off)
- Heavy yellowish bill
Females are paler and greyer with yellow spectacles and a dusky rather than black head. Also no red in plumage.
Juveniles have a plain brown head with faint indication of spectacles and brownish wings with white markings.
Distribution
Found in the Himalayas from northwest Pakistan east to India and Nepal to Sikkim in northeast India.
A restricted range species, scarce to locally common in its range. Very few records from Sikkim.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Temperate conifer and rhododendron forests at 2270 to 3350 m.
In more open areas in non-breeding season, along forest edge, grassy slopes and roadsides. Down to 1800 m in winter, sometimes lower.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds mainly on tree seeds, buds and shoots of deodars and spruce. Takes also rhododendron bark and berries.
Forages on the ground in the open or under bushes, also in lower levels of trees.
A rather shy and unobtrusive species, hops on the ground and flies only short distances when disturbed. Usually seen in pairs or in small family groups. In larger flocks of up to 40 birds in non-breeding season.
Breeding
Breeding season from mid-May to August. A monogamous and territorial species, however territories are apparently small. The nest is a large shallow cup made of strong twigs, pine needles, lichens, plant fibres, dry roots, feathers and animal hair. It's placed 3 to 21 m above the ground on a branch of pine or of fir. Lays 3 eggs.
Movements
Not well known, occurs at lower elevations in non-breeding season. Possibly some altitudinal and short-distance shifts.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Spectacled Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spectacled_Finch
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
