Red-winged bullfinch
| Red-winged bullfinch | ||||||||||||
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Red-winged bullfinch ( Rhodopechys sanguineus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Rhodopechys | ||||||||||||
| Cabanis , 1851 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Rhodopechys sanguineus | ||||||||||||
| Gould , 1838 |
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The red-winged bullfinch ( Rhodopechys sanguineus ) is a species of finch that inhabits bare mountain regions between around 1700 and 3000 m altitude. It occurs in two relatively small areas in North Africa and in several larger sub-areas from Central Anatolia to northwest China .
description
Appearance
The red-winged bullfinch is 13-15 cm long, about the same size as a linnet . The head is large, the neck strong, as is the horn-yellow, conical beak. The tail looks short, the wings appear quite long, especially in flight. The legs are pale brown, the feet darker. There is a slight sexual dimorphism in plumage coloring.
In the male's brood dress, the otherwise ocher to sand-colored head shows a broad, dark parting, the area in front of and above the eye is dark pink down to the cheeks. Outer eye stripes , ear covers , head and neck sides are tinted a little lighter beige. The throat and chest are sandy brown with dark streaking that becomes stronger on the chest. The flanks are slightly dark dashed, sand to ocher brown, the belly and underside up to the under tail-coverts white. The neck and most of the top are warm ocher to sand-colored with partly darker feather centers that make the top appear slightly streaked. From the lower back over the rump, a pink area interspersed with sand-colored feather bases extends to the upper tail-coverts. The two central tail feathers are black except for a white tip, the other tail feathers are - apart from a dark subterminal band - lined with broad pink or pale pink on the outer edge. The two outermost tail feathers are almost completely white. The arm covers are ocher brown with dark centers and a pink border. The wing is black, the hand covers are black with a pink front edge and a white base. The wings are black-brown with strong pink on the outside flags, which on the hand wings takes up the upper two thirds, on the arm wings the entire length. The arm wings are bordered in white at the lower end, as are the otherwise black-brown umbrella feathers. The pink on the wing appears in flight as a wide wing band, in the seated bird as a wide field interrupted by the dark ends of the coverts. The underside of the wings appears conspicuously silvery white in flight.
In the female, the vertex is not quite as dark and overall the pink areas are much less intense, or are sometimes completely absent. The dark stripes on the chest, flanks and back have also been greatly reduced. In a simple dress , the male also approaches the more inconspicuous appearance of the female.
The juvenile dress is similar to that of the female, but overall it is even more uniformly sandy brown, the pink of the wing is barely pronounced.
voice
The contact call is a bright, melodic “wi-tl-i” , the flight call is a soft “chi-rup” or “chi-lip” and a “dü-lit-dü-lit” , which is reminiscent of the woodlark . The singing performed from bushes or tufts of grass sounds like a sparrow "tschwili-tschwilip" . A babbling “turdil-idi-wip-u” can be heard in undulating and circling singing flights .
behavior
The red-winged bullfinch can often be found on the ground, on bushes it almost only sits down to sing. He often holds himself upright and jumps a lot, but sometimes walks a little waddling. The wave-like flight is fast with powerful wing beats.
He is not shy and can usually be found in pairs or small groups. Outside the breeding season, larger swarms often form.
distribution
The red-winged bullfinch shows, due to its attachment to high mountain regions, a very fragmented distribution area. In North Africa it occurs in Morocco in the High Atlas and possibly in northwest Algeria . The latter occurrence could also only be winter observations. It populates the center, south and east of Turkey , the southern Caucasus and Iran . It also occurs in southern Lebanon up to Mount Hermon in Israel. In Central Asia, its occurrence extends from the south of the Caspian Sea to Tajikistan and across the Kyrgyz part of the Tienschan Mountains to the Tarbagatai in Xinjiang in China. It also occurs in Afghanistan .
Geographic variation
Two subspecies are described. The most noticeable distinguishing feature of the North African subspecies is the white throat.
- R. s. sanguineus - Anatolia to northwest China
- R. s. alienus - North Africa
habitat
The red-winged bullfinch can be found in high mountain regions mostly above 2000 m. It is rarely found below 1280 m. It inhabits bare slopes, peaks and scree slopes and, more rarely, areas with sparse shrub growth. In winter it usually migrates to lower elevations and can be found there in stone deserts and wasteland at the foot of the mountains and on the edge of the cultural landscape.
Reproduction
The nest is made of fine grass and is usually found on the ground between rubble, in rock niches or under a bush. The clutch usually consists of four eggs. The eggs are turquoise and have a pattern of brown spots and dots, especially at the blunt end.
supporting documents
literature
- P. Clement, A. Harris, J. Davis: Finches and Sparrows, Helm Identification Guides, London 1993/1999, ISBN 0-7136-5203-9
- L. Svensson, PJ Grant, K. Mularney, D. Zetterström: Der neue Kosmos-Vogelführer, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9
- GM Kirwan, SMS Gregory: A new genus for the Mongolian Finch Bucanetes mongolicus (Swinhoe, 1870) . Bull. Brit. Orn. 2005, Cl. 125: 68-80
- Horst Bielfeld : siskins, giraffe, bullfinches and grosbeak. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3675-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bielfeld, p. 68
Web links
- Red-winged bullfinch in Israel
- Rhodopechys sanguineus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed July 11 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Rhodopechys sanguineus in the Internet Bird Collection
