Finches (Fringillidae)

Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) - HBW 15, p. 583

French: Roselin cramoisi German: Karmingimpel Spanish: Camachuelo Carminoso
Other common names: Scarlet Rosefinch/Grosbeak, Hodgson's Rosefinch, Scarlet Finch(!)

Taxonomy: Loxia erythrina Pallas, 1770, Volga and Samara Rivers, Russia.
Forms a superspecies with C. purpureus. Geographical variation weak and, except for race roseatus, not well defined; races not always separable when in worn plumage. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • erythrinus ( Pallas, 1770) - breeds N, C & E Europe, W & C Siberia (E to Lena basin and Sayan Mts), NW Mongolia and, in S, from Croatia, Romania and N Ukraine E to N & C Kazakhstan; migrates to N India, lowland Nepal, Bhutan, N Myanmar and NW Thailand.
  • grebnitskii Stejneger, 1885 - breeds E Siberia and Russian Far East (Verkhoyanskiy Range and Kolyma basin E to Chukotka and Kamchatka, S to L Baikal area, Amurland and N Ussuriland), N Mongolia, NE China (Inner Mongolia), N Korea and N Sakhalin I; migrates to SE & S China S to N Thailand and N Vietnam.
  • kubanensis Laubmann, 1915 - breeds N & E Turkey, Caucasus, N & NE Iran and W & C Turkmenistan; migrates to N India.

     See all 5 subspecies
  • erythrinus ( Pallas, 1770) - breeds N, C & E Europe, W & C Siberia (E to Lena basin and Sayan Mts), NW Mongolia and, in S, from Croatia, Romania and N Ukraine E to N & C Kazakhstan; migrates to N India, lowland Nepal, Bhutan, N Myanmar and NW Thailand.
  • grebnitskii Stejneger, 1885 - breeds E Siberia and Russian Far East (Verkhoyanskiy Range and Kolyma basin E to Chukotka and Kamchatka, S to L Baikal area, Amurland and N Ussuriland), N Mongolia, NE China (Inner Mongolia), N Korea and N Sakhalin I; migrates to SE & S China S to N Thailand and N Vietnam.
  • kubanensis Laubmann, 1915 - breeds N & E Turkey, Caucasus, N & NE Iran and W & C Turkmenistan; migrates to N India.
  • ferghanensis ( Kozlova, 1939) - breeds in mountains of E & SE Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and W China (W Xinjiang) S to Afghanistan, NW Himalayas (E to Kashmir) and W Pakistan; migrates to NW India.
  • roseatus ( Blyth, 1842) - breeds C & E Himalayas from Ladakh E to NE India (probably to Arunachal Pradesh), possibly also N Myanmar, and Tibetan Plateau E to C & S China (Qinghai E to SW Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, W Guizhou and NW Yunnan); winters India E to Myanmar, NW & C Thailand, N Laos and NW Vietnam (W Tonkin) and S & SE China.