Leucosticte tephrocotis
coastal male
The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is a hardy songbird of challenging environments. The sexes are dissimilar and the plumage shows subtle regional variation. All adult males have a black forecrown and throat, and rosy-pink wing coverts, flight feather margins, rump, and belly. In birds that breed in the interior, the rear of the crown is gray and the cheeks and breast are brown. Coastal breeders are similar, but the cheeks as well as the rear of the crown are gray. Birds that breed on Bering Sea islands are similar to coastal birds but the back and breast are blackish brown. Adult females are similar to their respective regional males but paler and much less colorful. In all adults the bill is black in summer but yellow in winter. Juveniles are brown overall with pale edges to the wing feathers and a dark forecrown.
The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is a breeding visitor in the north of its range mainly from May to August; these birds move south in fall. Birds from more southerly mountain ranges and Bering Sea birds are year-round residents. It forms flocks in winter.
female
interior male
FACT FILE
LENGTH 6 in (15 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates, seeds, and berries
HABITAT Arctic tundra and short alpine vegetation
STATUS Locally common, with different summer and winter ranges
VOICE Song is a descending series of whistled chew notes. Call is a harsh chew
