Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) [XC575827]
by Albert Lastukhin from Viktoriya, gorod Cheboksary, Chuvashia, Italy (song)
Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) [XC731850]
by Beatrix Saadi-Varchmin from Groden, Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Belgium (song)
Nest
A structure composed of twigs and grass, in dense cover.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6; pale green with brown spots and streaks.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus). Geographical variation weak and, except for subspecies roseatus, not well defined. Subspecies not always separable when in worn plumage.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
erythrinus (Pallas, 1770) - Breeds north, central and eastern Europe, western and central Siberia (east to Lena basin and Sayan Mts), north-western Mongolia and, in south, from Croatia, Romania and northern Ukraine east to northern and central Kazakhstan; migrates to northern India, lowland Nepal, Bhutan, northern Myanmar and north-western Thailand.
grebnitskii Stejneger, 1885 - Breeds eastern Siberia and Russian Far East (Verkhoyanskiy Range and Kolyma basin east to Chukotka and Kamchatka, south to L Baikal area, Amurland and northern Ussuriland), northern Mongolia, north-eastern China (Inner Mongolia), northern Korea and northern Sakhalin I; migrates to south-eastern and southern China south to northern Thailand and northern Vietnam.
kubanensis Laubmann, 1915 - Breeds northern and eastern Turkey, Caucasus, northern and north-eastern Iran and western and central Turkmenistan; migrates to northern India.
ferghanensis (Kozlova, 1939) - Breeds in mountains of eastern and south-eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and western China (western Xinjiang) south to Afghanistan, north-western Himalayas (east to Kashmir) and western Pakistan; migrates to north-western India.
roseatus (Blyth, 1842) - Breeds central and eastern Himalayas from Ladakh east to north-eastern India (probably to Arunachal Pradesh), possibly also northern Myanmar, and Tibetan Plateau east to central and southern China (Qinghai east to south-western Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, western Guizhou and north-western Yunnan). Winters India east to Myanmar, north-western and central Thailand, northern Laos and north-western Vietnam (western Tonkin) and southern and south-eastern China.
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