Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)

White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis)

French: Niverolle alpine German: Schneesperling Spanish: Gorrión Alpino
Other common names: Eurasian/Common Snowfinch

Taxonomy: Fringilla nivalis Linnaeus, 1766, Switzerland.
Forms a superspecies with M. adamsi and M. henrici, and all have in the past sometimes been considered conspecific. Races are geographically isolated from one another, and it is suggested that, in absence of gene flow, several are well towards achieving full species rank. Seven subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

nivalis ( Linnaeus, 1766) - S Europe from N Spain, Pyrenees, the Alps and Corsica E to Greece.
leucura Bonaparte, 1855 - S & E Asia Minor.
alpicola ( Pallas, 1811) - Caucasus, and N Iran E to Afghanistan.

See all 7 subspecies

nivalis ( Linnaeus, 1766) - S Europe from N Spain, Pyrenees, the Alps and Corsica E to Greece.
leucura Bonaparte, 1855 - S & E Asia Minor.
alpicola ( Pallas, 1811) - Caucasus, and N Iran E to Afghanistan.
gaddi Zarudny & Loudon, 1904 - Zagros Mts, in SW Iran.
tianshanica Keve-Kleiner, 1943 - W & C Tien Shan (Kazakhstan) S to N Pamirs (N Tajikistan).
groumgrzimaili Zarudny & Loudon, 1904 - E Tien Shan, NW China (N Xinjiang) and Altai to C Mongolia.
kwenlunensis Bianchi, 1908 - mountains of S Xinjiang (Kunlun, Altun Shan and Nan Shan), in SW China.