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Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) — photo 1 of 4
© Adam Kumiszcza CC BY-SA 3.0

Finches · Perching birds

Common Rosefinch

Carpodacus erythrinus

Voice

Call

Sonothèque ADVL

0:19

Song

Jochem Verweij

1:23

Call

Sonothèque ADVL

0:24

How to recognize it

  • Sparrow-sized, compact

  • Adult male: bright red head and breast, brown wings

  • Female and young: plain brown-gray, paler below

  • Usually in shrubs; melodic whistled call, often like “Did you see Vitia?”

About the species

The Common Rosefinch looks rather plain at first, but the adult male catches the eye with a bright red head and breast. Females and young stay much less conspicuous, with muted brownish plumage that is easy to lose in leaves.

It keeps to cover and usually does not step into the open unless it has to. More often, it gives itself away with a clear, musical whistle, and its manner is cautious rather than noisy.

It uses shrub thickets, woodland edges, river floodplains, and other dense cover. It feeds on seeds, berries, and sometimes insects, nests low in bushes, and leaves for winter early, spending the colder months in South and Southeast Asia.

Did you know?

  • A true long-haul migrant

    In north-eastern Europe the rosefinch is a true long-distance migrant with obligatory directional flights, unlike neighbours such as the siskin or redpoll, which tend to wander.

  • Chicks raised on unripe seeds

    The rosefinch feeds its chicks mostly on unripe seeds, with only the occasional caterpillar, aphid, hoverfly larva or scale insect — insects aren't the staple they are for most passerines.

  • Returns to the same patch yearly

    The rosefinch keeps a tight grip on last year's breeding territory: ringed adults return year after year to exactly the same place.

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Sources