Finches (Fringillidae)

Twite (Carduelis flavirostris) - HBW 15, p. 566

French: Linotte à bec jaune German: Berghänfling Spanish: Pardillo Piquigualdo
Other common names: Tibetan Twite (rufostrigata and miniakensis)

Taxonomy: Fringilla flavirostris Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden.
Previously placed in genus Acanthis. Has hybridized with C. cannabina. High degree of variation within race montanella, some populations of which have in the past been separated as pamirensis (from Alai and Transalai), baltistanicus (from Sanpur, near Skardu, Baltistan, in N Pakistan) and pallescens (from Chumbuz Darya, W of Kashkar, in NW China); similarly, range of variation within korejevi may encompass populations presently separated as races kirghizorum and altaica; further research required. Otherwise, geographical variation often weak and in some cases possibly not applicable to birds outside breeding season; also, individuals in worn plumage may not be easily assigned to race. Birds from Outer Hebrides, in W Scotland, have been separated as race bensonorum on basis of dull brown upperparts streaked blackish, but considered to fall within range of variation of pipilans, with which synonymized. Nine subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

pipilans ( Latham, 1787) - breeds N Ireland and N Britain; migrates to coastal SE England, and NE France E to Netherlands.
flavirostris ( Linnaeus, 1758) - breeds Norway, N Sweden and N Finland E to Kola Peninsula (NW Russia); migrates to coasts of Baltic and North Sea and to C & E Europe.
brevirostris ( Bonaparte, 1855) - Caucasus and adjacent S Russia S to SC & E Turkey and NW & N Iran.

See all 9 subspecies

pipilans ( Latham, 1787) - breeds N Ireland and N Britain; migrates to coastal SE England, and NE France E to Netherlands.
flavirostris ( Linnaeus, 1758) - breeds Norway, N Sweden and N Finland E to Kola Peninsula (NW Russia); migrates to coasts of Baltic and North Sea and to C & E Europe.
brevirostris ( Bonaparte, 1855) - Caucasus and adjacent S Russia S to SC & E Turkey and NW & N Iran.
kirghizorum ( Sushkin, 1925) - breeds N & C Kazakhstan; migrates to S Kazakhstan and N Uzbekistan.
korejevi ( Zarudny & Härms, 1914) - breeds NE Kazakhstan (S Altai, Tarbagatay) and NW China (N Xinjiang); migrates to SE Kazakhstan and Tajikistan S to C Afghanistan.
altaica ( Sushkin, 1925) - breeds S Russia (C & E Altai and W Sayan Mts, and Tuva Republic) and W & N Mongolia.
montanella ( Hume, 1873) - E Kyrgyzstan, Pamir-Alai Mts, Tajikistan, S Uzbekistan, WC China (W & SW Xinjiang S to Karakorum, Kunlun Shan and Altun Shan, E to N Qinghai), Afghanistan and N Pakistan (Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan).
rufostrigata ( Walton, 1905) - Ladakh, W & S Tibetan Plateau (W & S Xizang), and N India E to N Nepal.
miniakensis ( Jacobi, 1923) - E Tibetan Plateau (S Qinghai and E Xizang) E to C China (E to Gansu and W Sichuan).