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Vinaceous Rosefinch Carpodacus vinaceus Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement and David Christie
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated June 3, 2019

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

13–15 cm. Medium-small, conical-billed, stoutly built dark rosefinch with notched tail. Male is almost entirely deep wine-red or dark crimson, indistinctly streaked darker on upperparts; rump paler, deep pink or rich rose-pink; lores blackish, long pale pink supercilium to side of nape consisting of dark crimson background with narrow silvery-pink streaking; tail black, finely edged reddish crimson; upperwing blackish, median and greater coverts and bases of flight-feathers finely edged reddish, tertials broadly edged pale pinkish white towards tips (in worn plumage, paler tips reduced or absent); lower face and underparts like upperparts or very slightly paler, except for dark brown undertail-coverts finely tipped buff; iris black; bill dark horn-brown or blackish; legs dark tan-brown to dark horn-brown. Female has head and upperparts brownish olive, streaked finely darker on crown and nape to lower back, unstreaked rump and uppertail-coverts; tail dark brown, finely edged buffish brown; upperwing dark brown, finely edged olive, tertials brownish olive, broadly edged dull yellowish white towards tips (pale tips reduced or absent when worn); face almost plain, but lores to throat often duller or paler, sometimes a narrow indistinct supercilium slightly paler than crown; below, paler and slightly more buff than upperparts, lower throat and breast streaked darker or brown, streaks becoming less distinct on flanks; bill grey-brown, legs dull pink. Juvenile is like female, or slightly warmer brown and less olive on upperparts (may breed in this plumage); immature male has pale pink supercilium at early age.

Systematics History

Until recently considered conspecific with C. formosanus; see that species. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

N India (E Uttarakhand) and Nepal, C & S China (S & SW Gansu and S Shaanxi S to SE Tibet, Yunnan, N Guizhou, and W Hubei) and N & NE Myanmar. Recorded recently in N Vietnam (1).

Habitat

Undergrowth of lower montane and submontane dense mixed or damp bamboo forest, rhododendron (Rhododendron) bushes and scrub on otherwise open hillsides; in Nepal, laying female found in barberry (Berberis) hedges close to mixed fir–pine (Abies–Pinus) forest N of main range. At 1830–3400 m; in Nepal at 3050–3200 m in breeding season, and found at 1065–3050 m in non-breeding season; in China sometimes down to 500 m in E Sichuan (Red Basin) in winter.

Movement

Resident and altitudinal migrant. Moves to lower levels within range in non-breeding season; scarce winter visitor in N India (Uttar Pradesh).

Diet and Foraging

Variety of plant and tree seeds. Forages on ground, in low bushes and in dense vegetation; perches on or clings to flowerheads of shrubby plants while extracting seeds; also remains motionless in bush for long periods when not feeding. In pairs and small groups.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a simple and distinctive "pee-dee” or “do-do”, poorly documented but apparently similar to that of C. formosanus. Common call “pwit” or “zip”, slightly shorter and slightly lower in pitch than corresponding call of C. formosanus; also a repeated “zieh”, a soft “pink” and an emberizid-like “zick”.

Breeding

Female incubating eggs in Jul in Nepal. No other published information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon to scarce or rare. Status in Nepal uncertain, possibly scarce resident, but appears rare and local; uncommon in China; scarce to uncommon in Myanmar. A male and a female found on Fan Si Pan (in Hoang Lien National Park), in N Vietnam, in May 2017 represent the first record of the species for that country (1). Total breeding area possibly smaller than realized, and divided into two discrete parts; in Nepal and China, the species may be threatened by forest destruction. Conservation status probably merits reassessment, and this rosefinch could be found to be Near Threatened or even Vulnerable.

Distribution of the Vinaceous Rosefinch - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
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Distribution of the Vinaceous Rosefinch

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Clement, P. and D. A. Christie (2020). Vinaceous Rosefinch (Carpodacus vinaceus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.vinros2.01
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