Grey-crowned Rosy Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) [XC101456]
by from St. Paul Island, Alaska, United States (call)
Grey-crowned Rosy Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) [XC392240]
by Thomas Magarian from Babb, Glacier County, Montana, United States (call)
Subspecies
Has been thought possibly to form a superspecies with Asian Rosy-finch (Leucosticte arctoa), Black Rosy-finch (Leucosticte atrata) and Brown-capped Rosy-finch (Leucosticte australis), and all are often treated as conspecific. Recent analysis of mitochondrial DNA indicates close genetic similarity among them all. Has hybridized with Black Rosy-finch (Leucosticte atrata). Nominate subspecies and griseonucha intergrade in Alaska.
Proposed subspecies irvingi (described from Anaktuvuk Pass, in northern Alaska) considered synonymous with nominate, and maxima (from Commander Is, off north-eastern Russia) synonymized with griseonucha.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
griseonucha (von Brandt, JF, 1842) - Commander Is, and Aleutian Is (including Shumagin Is and Semidi Is) east to Alaskan Peninsula. Non-breeding south to Kodiak I.
umbrina Murie, 1944 - Hall I, St Matthew I and Pribilof Is, in Bering Sea.
littoralis Baird, SF, 1869 - Breeds south-central Alaska east to western Canada (south-western Yukon, north-western British Columbia) and southern in western USA from Washington and Oregon (along Cascade Mts) to northern California (Mt Shasta). Winters in south of breeding range east to central Montana, western Nevada, northern Utah and central New Mexico.
tephrocotis (Swainson, 1832) - Breeds northern and central Alaska east to north-western Canada (central Yukon, British Columbia, western Alberta) and north-western USA (north-western Montana). Winters from southern British Columbia east to south-western Saskatchewan and South Dakota, south to north-eastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado and northern New Mexico.
wallowa Miller, AH, 1939 - Breeds north-eastern Oregon (Wallowa Mts). Winters south to west-central Nevada and central-eastern California.
dawsoni Grinnell, 1913 - Eastern California (Sierra Nevada and White Mts).
maxima Brooks, WS, 1915 - Commander Is. (north-eastern Siberia).
irvingi Feinstein, 1958 - Brooks Range (northern Alaska).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet