Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Leucosticte australis

Conservation status | Uncommon and local. Its isolated mountaintop habitats are likely to be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. |
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Family | Finches |
Habitat | Very much like that of Black Rosy-Finch. |
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Eggs
3-5. White, unmarked. Incubation is by female only, about 12-14 days. Young: Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 18 days after hatching, and may remain with parents through end of summer and into the fall. 1 brood per year.
Young
Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 18 days after hatching, and may remain with parents through end of summer and into the fall. 1 brood per year.
Diet
FEEDING. Diet and feeding behavior are very similar to those of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Nesting
At high elevations where this bird nests, snow may cover nesting sites until late June in some years. Birds may be already paired when they arrive at breeding areas. Nest site is in a crevice or hole in a cliff, sometimes a very narrow crevice where the nest is quite inaccessible; sometimes under a rock, in mine shaft, or in abandoned building. Nest (built by female) is a bulky cup of moss, grass, weeds, rootlets, lined with fine grass and sometimes with feathers or animal fur.
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
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Migration
Moves to lower elevations in autumn and winter, tending to move farther downhill in winters of heavier snowfall. Migration is all altitudinal, does not seem to move south of breeding range.

- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
See a fully interactive migration map for this species on the Bird Migration Explorer.
Learn moreSongs and Calls
A series of low cheep notes are uttered to maintain contact in the flock. In the mating season the male gives a similar song during a long, circular, undulating flight.Learn more about this sound collection.