- Mycerobas carnipes
Identification
22–24 cm (8¾-9½ in)
Male
- Black head to upper back and to lower. breast
- Golden yellow underparts
Distribution
Middle East and Asia
Middle East: occurs only in Iran
Asia: Russia, Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas and Bhutan
Southeast Asia: Indochina and Myanmar
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]
- M. c. speculigerus:
- Mountains of north-eastern Iran and Transcaspia to northern Afghanistan and Pakistan
- M. c. carnipes:
An additional subspecies, merzbacheri, from North Kyrgyzstan, but differences from nominate are considered trivial; and is not generally recognised[2].
Habitat
Boreal juniper and spruce forests.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of juniper and dogwood berries; also spruce and mountain ash seeds.
Breeding
Female, subspecies carnipes (merzbacheri)
Photo by Askar Isabekov
Kazakhstan, Tien Shan, February 2017
Photo by Askar Isabekov
Kazakhstan, Tien Shan, February 2017
The female builds a cup using twigs, plant fibres and plant stems.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-winged Grosbeak. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-winged_Grosbeak
