Twite (Linaria flavirostris) [XC342643]
by Tero Linjama from Vard\u00f6, Varanger peninsula, Netherlands (call, flight call)
Twite (Linaria flavirostris) [XC527246]
by from Bayandalai, \u00d6mn\u00f6govi, Mongolia (call)
Nest
A deep cup of twigs and bracken, warmly lined, close to the ground, in herbage or a crevice.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6; blue with spots, speckles and scrawls of reddish- or purplish-brown.
Subspecies
Has hybridized with Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina). High degree of variation within subspecies montanella, some populations of which have in the past been separated as pamirensis (from Alai and Transalai), baltistanicus (from Sanpur, near Skardu, Baltistan, in northern Pakistan) and pallescens (from Chumbuz Darya, west of Kashkar, in north-western China). Similarly, range of variation within korejevi may encompass populations presently separated as subspecies kirghizorum and altaica. Further research is required. Otherwise, geographical variation often weak and in some cases possibly not applicable to birds outside breeding season. Also, individuals in worn plumage may not be easily assigned to subspecies. Birds from Outer Hebrides, in western Scotland, have been separated as subspecies bensonorum on basis of dull brown upperparts streaked blackish, but considered to fall within range of variation of pipilans, with which synonymized.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
pipilans (Latham, 1787) - Breeds northern Ireland and northern Britain; migrates to coastal south-eastern England, and north-eastern France east to Netherlands.
flavirostris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Breeds Norway, northern Sweden and northern Finland east to Kola Peninsula (north-western Russia); migrates to coasts of Baltic and North Sea and to central and eastern Europe.
brevirostris (Bonaparte, 1855) - Caucasus and adjacent southern Russia south to south-central and eastern Turkey and north-western and northern Iran.
kirghizorum (Sushkin, 1925) - Breeds northern and central Kazakhstan; migrates to southern Kazakhstan and northern Uzbekistan.
korejevi (Zarudny & Härms, 1914) - Breeds north-eastern Kazakhstan (southern Altai, Tarbagatay) and north-western China (northern Xinjiang); migrates to south-eastern Kazakhstan and Tajikistan south to central Afghanistan.
altaica (Sushkin, 1925) - Breeds southern Russia (central and eastern Altai and western Sayan Mts, and Tuva Republic) and western and northern Mongolia.
montanella (Hume, 1873) - Eastern Kyrgyzstan, Pamir-Alai Mts, Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan, west-central China (western and south-western Xinjiang south to Karakorum, Kunlun Shan and Altun Shan, east to northern Qinghai), Afghanistan and northern Pakistan (Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan).
rufostrigata (Walton, 1905) - Ladakh, western and southern Tibetan Plateau (western and southern Xizang), and northern India east to northern Nepal.
miniakensis (Jacobi, A, 1923) - Eastern Tibetan Plateau (southern Qinghai and eastern Xizang) east to central China (east to Gansu and western Sichuan).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet