The Mongolian finch (''Bucanetes mongolicus''), also known as the Mongolian trumpeter finch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.

Description

The Mongolian finch is a small, long-winged bird. It has a large head and short, thick greyish-yellow bill. In breeding plumage, males have a pink flush to their face and underparts, and there are extensive white and pink areas in the wings, a pattern that is also present but less marked in non-breeding plumage.

Taxonomy

This species has been genetically included in a group of arid-zone Carduelini finches, which comprises the following species: '' Leucosticte arctoa tephrocotis'', '' Leucosticte arctoa arctoa'', ''

Carpodacus nipalensis The dark-breasted rosefinch (''Procarduelis nipalensis'') is a species of true finch in the monotypic genus ''Procarduelis''. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are bor ...

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Rhodopechys githaginea The trumpeter finch (''Bucanetes githagineus'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is mainly a desert species which is found in North Africa and Spain through to southern Asia. It has occurred as a vagrant in areas ...

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Rhodopechys mongolica The Mongolian finch (''Bucanetes mongolicus''), also known as the Mongolian trumpeter finch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Description The Mongolian finch is a small, long-winged bird. It has a large head and short ...

''. Its phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.

Distribution and habitat

This bird is a resident from eastern Turkey, across the Caucasus, east into Central Asia and on to western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Mongolia and south into the

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. Mountainous areas of stony

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

or semi-arid scrub and rocky slopes are favoured for breeding. It is native to Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,

, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, India, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.Birdlife Species factsheet (additional data): Mongolian Finch (Rhodopechys mongolicus)

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(accessed 23 May 2008) It is a vagrant in Bahrain.

Armenia

The first record for Armenia was in 2001 near Vedi.Beddard, Roy, Vasil Ananian and Mark Finn (2002) The first Mongolian Trumpeter Finch ''Bucanetes mongolicus'' in Armenia '' Sandgrouse'' 24(2): 144-7 Further birds were seen here in 2002.

Azerbaijan

It was first recorded in Azerbaijan at Bulgan in early May 1912 (Beme 1926) Bulgan is in the Nakhchivan region, which is separated from the main part of the country by a strip of Armenian territory; Kirwan & Konrad (1995) incorrectly list this site as being in Armenia. Beddard ''et al.'' (2002) were unaware of any records from the main part of the country.

Turkey

In Turkey, the species' occurrence in the far east of the country is well documented, e.g. Kirwan & Conrad (1995),Kirwan, Guy & Volker Conrad (1995) Little known Western Palearctic birds: Mongolian Trumpeter Finch '' Birding World'' 8(4):139-44 Roselaar (1995).Roselaar, C. S. (1995) Songbird of Turkey: an atlas of biodiversity of Turkish passerine birds Kirwan ''et al.'' (2000) published information suggesting that the species' Turkish range may be more extensive, including a record in 1999 from Sivrikaya in the Pontic Mountains, 100 km northwest of the core Turkish

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, and one in 1982 from Sultanbabadagi, Tunceli, 200 km west of its core range.Kirwan, Guy M., Matthias Bechtolsheim and Siegfried Willig (2000) Distribution of Mongolian Finch in Turkey '' Dutch Birding'' 22(3):149-50 They also suggest that an adult with a fledged juvenile seen on the eastern side of Lake Tuz in 1967, and identified at the time as desert finches, may actually have been Mongolian finches.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q921335 Mongolian finch Birds of Azerbaijan Birds of Central Asia Birds of Mongolia Mongolian finch Mongolian finch