Brown-capped Rosy-Finch

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, breeding male; Mt. Evans, CO; July

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Like the other rosy-finches, the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch is a bird of the high mountains, breeding above timberline. It has the smallest range of the three American species, being found primarily in Colorado.

Description

• Medium-sized finch.
• Cinnamon-brown on back, breast, neck, and face.
• Black forehead.
• Red or pink on belly, rump, and in wings.

• Size: 14-16 cm (6-6 in)
• Wingspan: 33 cm (13 in)
• Weight: 23-33 g (0.81-1.16 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but female lighter brown, with pink instead of red.

Sound

Call a buzzy "Chew."

Conservation Status

May be declining slightly.

Other Names

Roselin à tête brune (French)
Rosy Finch (in part) (English)

Cool Facts

• It usually takes a female Brown-capped Rosy-Finch one to three days to construct a nest (the male does not help). At one site, however, construction took 18 days because wind completely removed the nest twice. Another female took 11 to 14 days to build her nest because the nest material kept sliding off the sloping nest ledge.
• The Brown-capped Rosy-Finch lines its nest with grass, feathers, and fur. It also has been recorded using, cotton, pieces of cloth, ravelings of burlap, and, in one nest, a piece of blasting fuse.

• Rosy-finches build their nests in crevices where they stay completely in the shade. One Brown-capped Rosy-Finch nest was frozen in ice each night when the water trickling through the site froze.

Sources used to construct this page:

Johnson, R. E., P. Hendricks, D. L. Pattie, and K. B. Hunter. 2000. Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte australis). In The Birds of North America, No. 536 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.