Edward's bullfinch

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Edward's bullfinch
Drawing of an Edward Bullfinch (male) by Josèphe Huët, 1872

Drawing of an Edward Bullfinch (male) by Josèphe Huët , 1872

Systematics
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Finches (Fringillidae)
Subfamily : Goldfinches (Carduelinae)
Tribe : Carpodacini
Genre : Carrion Pickle ( Carpodacus )
Type : Edward's bullfinch
Scientific name
Carpodacus edwardsii
Verreaux , 1870

The Edward's bullfinch ( Carpodacus edwardsii ) is a songbird in the finch family . It lives in parts of the Himalayas and western China , where it occurs in forests, bamboo thickets and stunted shrubbery on alpine mats.

description

Appearance

The Edward's bullfinch is 16–17 cm long and slightly larger than a chaffinch . The species looks quite dark brown and barely shows the pink or red areas typical of the genus , except for the stripe above the eyes and the area of ​​the throat and breast. The 14-16 mm long bill is short, strong and pointed, the ridge and lower edge rounded almost symmetrically towards the tip. The upper bill is brown, the lower bill lighter horn-colored. The feet are dark brown. The wing length is 79–85 mm in the male and 77–82 mm in the female. The tail length of the male is between 61 and 67 mm, in the female between 59 and 66 mm.

The sexes differ greatly in the color of the plumage. In the male, the rear forehead, crown and neck are dark brown and, which can only be seen from a short distance, are tinged with dark red. The forehead and the outer eye stripes are pale pink to mauve and are separated from the other pink areas on the cheeks, the front ear covers, chin and throat by the brown to dark red reins and the rear ear covers. The latter show light feather tips in the area of ​​the face and dark feather centers on the throat. The dark red to chestnut brown color of the breast ends in a lighter dark pink on the lower breast and stomach, which is also finely dotted with dark lines. The flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts are brown. The back and shoulder feathers are warm brown, tinged with reddish and darkly striped. The rump and tail-tail-covers are also colored, but lack stripes. The arm covers are black-brown in the center with chestnut-colored to red-brown hems and dark pink tips. The rest of the wing plumage is medium to dark brown with warm brown edges. Like the umbrella feathers, the inner arm wings are nuanced in fresh plumage, the latter have a broad, beige-pink tip on the outer flag. The slightly forked tail is dark brown with reddish brown edges that become darker towards the tip.

In the female, the upper side is dark yellow-brown with dark brown streaking that becomes stronger on the back. The rump and upper tail-coverts are solid and unbroken yellowish-brown. The face is fine and dense dark dashed with beige feather tips on the reins, cheeks and ear covers. The broad, beige and finely dashed stripe above the eyes is often washed out and runs down to the sides of the neck. The chin and throat are pale beige with dark stripes, the underside is brown beige with broad stripes. Towards the under tail-coverts and rear flanks it becomes lighter beige, the dotted lines finer. The arm covers are dark brown with lighter hems and beige tips. The rest of the wing is dark brown with light hems that widen strongly towards the tip on the outer vents of the umbrella feathers. The dark brown tail is lined with light brown.

The juvenile dress is similar to that of the female, but is often more matt or darker underneath with more distinct stripes. Males in the first summer still look similar, but already show red nuances on the upper side. The stripe above the eyes becomes paler and pink, the breast shows a strong, dark pink color.

The male is quite similar to those of the thin-billed bullfinch , the burgundy bullfinch and the aurora bullfinch , but can be easily distinguished from them due to various features. It is more difficult to differentiate between the females, where a mix-up with those of Burgundy, African and Spotted Bullfinches cannot always be ruled out.

voice

The species is not very vocal, sometimes a metallic twink or a rough chee-wi can be heard as an alarm call. The singing has not yet been described.

Distribution and geographic variation

The Edward's bullfinch colonizes parts of the Himalayas from western Nepal eastwards to western China. The males of the subspecies rubicunda differ from the nominate form by a stronger reddish tinge on the back. The areas around the abdomen are less brown. Females are darker or less intense brown and more strongly dashed.

The Edward's bullfinch is usually rare and only often found in certain areas in winter. According to the IUCN , it is not threatened.

Way of life

The Edward's bullfinch occurs at altitudes between 3050 and 4240 m, in winter it migrates down to altitudes between 2000 and 3700 m in Nepal and down to about 1600 m in Tibet and western China. Some of them winter south to northern Myanmar .

It inhabits birch, spruce and bamboo forests and breeds in stunted bushes of juniper or rhododendron. It can also be found in stocks of bamboo or thorn bushes on alpine meadows and on open slopes.

Usually you meet him in small groups or family groups. Occasionally it socializes with the streaked brownelle ( Prunella strophiata ). The food is taken up under the protection of the bush layer on the ground, mainly grass seeds but also fruits of rose or wild apple bushes are eaten. Nothing is known about the breeding biology.

literature

  • P. Clement, A. Harris, J. Davis: Finches and Sparrows , Helm Identification Guides, London 1993/1999, ISBN 0-7136-5203-9

Web links

Commons : Edwardsgimpel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files