Specialties

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

Description: Typically the most common Rosy-Finch species in mixed feeding flocks during the winter; usually outnumbers Brown-capped 25 to 1 and Black 100 to 1. The "Hepburn's" subspecies is uncommon, but a few are usually present in most flocks.

Pinning down a reliable rosy-finch location can be hard; most are in high-elevation towns where there is a good feeder supply. Cliffy areas can also be good, but it can be harder to scan the flocks at such locales. Often, a spot that is good one winter has few or no rosies the next. The finches are easiest to find during and after mountain snowstorms, when they are forced to feeders to get food.

This species is the most likely to be seen on the rare occasions when Rosy-Finches wander onto the plains; Black is next most likely, and Brown-capped by far the least likely.