Vinaceous Rosefinch Carpodacus vinaceus occurs in two disjunct ranges, one in the Himalayas in India and Nepal, the other in a range bordered on the north by the Min and Qin mountains in Gansu and Shaanxi and extending east to the Daba Mountains in western Hubei, south to northern Guizhou and Yunnan, and east to eastern Tibet. Usually between 1800–3400 m (5,910–11,160 ft.), but in Red Basin of eastern Sichuan as low as 500 m (1,640 ft.). HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Understory and edge of damp forests, dense roadside vegetation, and bamboo thickets. Often seen clinging to stems of plants, extracting seeds. ID & COMPARISON Male dark crimson on head, mantle, rump, and underparts, with long, pinkish supercilium extending to nape, diffuse black streaking on mantle and underparts. Wings blackish-brown with white tips to tertials. Tail black (with some brown fringing). Female lacks supercilium and is mainly olive brown with faint scaling and streaking above and below; tail and wings blackish-brown, the latter with white or buff tips to tertials (may be indiscernible when worn). Male Dark-breasted Rosefinch Procarduelis nipalensis has dark maroon-brown breast band and eyestripe and lacks white tips to tertials; female Dark-breasted is darker and has buffish wingbars. Male Sharpe’s Rosefinch Carpodacus verreauxii has pink wingbars. BARE PARTS Conical horn to grey-brown bill; brownish-pink feet. VOICE Thin, sharp, continuously repeated call, tsit, tsit, tsit. Simple song, pee-dee, pee-do lasting a couple of seconds. — Craig Brelsford
THE ROSEFINCHES OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com covers all species in the genus Carpodacus in China. Click any link:
Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus
Scarlet Finch C. sipahi
Streaked Rosefinch C. rubicilloides
Great Rosefinch C. rubicilla
Red-mantled Rosefinch C. rhodochlamys
Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch C. pulcherrimus
Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch C. davidianus
Pink-rumped Rosefinch C. waltoni
Pink-browed Rosefinch C. rodochroa
Dark-rumped Rosefinch C. edwardsii
Spot-winged Rosefinch C. rodopeplus
Sharpe’s Rosefinch C. verreauxii
Vinaceous Rosefinch C. vinaceus
Pale Rosefinch C. synoicus
Tibetan Rosefinch C. roborowskii
Sillem’s Rosefinch C. sillemi
Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch C. sibiricus
Chinese Long-tailed Rosefinch C. lepidus
Pallas’s Rosefinch C. roseus
Three-banded Rosefinch C. trifasciatus
Himalayan White-browed Rosefinch C. thura
Chinese White-browed Rosefinch C. dubius
Red-fronted Rosefinch C. puniceus
Crimson-browed Finch C. subhimachalus
See also:
Taiwan Rosefinch Carpodacus formosanus
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
