Montifringilla
Montifringilla | |
---|---|
White-winged snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passeridae |
Genus: | Montifringilla Brehm, CL, 1828 |
Type species | |
Fringilla nivalis[1] Linnaeus, 1766
| |
Diversity | |
3 species | |
Synonyms | |
|
Montifringilla is a
Description
Snowfinches are stocky sparrows 13.5–17 centimetres (5.3–6.7 in) in length, with strong conical bills. They have pale brown upperparts, white underparts and extensive white panels in the wings, which transform them in flight. Adults may have black markings on the chin or around the eyes. Sexes are usually very similar, although the male white-winged snowfinch has a distinctive grey head. Young birds are a drabber version of the adult.[3]
They have simple repetitive songs, given from a rock or during the elaborate circling display flight. The call is a simple chip or similar.[4]
Ecology
Most snowfinches breed above altitudes of 3,500 metres (11,500 ft), but the white-winged snowfinch can occur from 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) upwards. These hardy birds inhabit bare open mountain grassland. Snowfinches are not migratory but may move to lower altitudes or human habitation in winter, when these highly gregarious birds form large flocks. Snowfinches are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, though they also consume small arthropods, especially when breeding. They are typically fearless, and will forage around ski resorts, human habitation and rubbish tips.[3]
They nest in rock crevices, or more typically in holes left by rodents or (and even more often) pikas (Ochotonidae). The typical clutch is from three to six eggs.[5]
Systematics and taxonomy
The genus Montifringilla was introduced by the German ornithologist Christian Ludwig Brehm in 1828.[6] The type species was subsequently designated as the white-winged snowfinch.[7] The name of the genus combines the Latin words mons, montis "mountain" and fringilla "finch".[8]
Species and systematics
The genus contains three species:[9]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Montifringilla henrici | Tibetan snowfinch | Tibet | |
Montifringilla nivalis | White-winged snowfinch | southern Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Corsica, Balkans) and through central Asia to western China | |
Montifringilla adamsi | Black-winged snowfinch | China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan |
Four species of snowfich are now separated in the
Taxonomy
The
According to Article 11.6.1. and 50.7. in the third and fourth editions of the
The name Orospiza has a similar history to Pyrgilauda. Bonaparte merely remarked it had been used by "some" (aliquī) unspecified authors,[13] while many subsequent sources attributed it to Johann Jakob Kaup. But that is a misunderstanding, and the only technically valid (though synonymous) name for the snowfinch genus proposed by Kaup was Chionospina. Thus, in the case of Orospiza Bonaparte is again the valid author, though Thomas Horsfield and Frederic Moore were the first to set a type species. As M. nivalis was still the only known snowfinch in 1858 when they did this, Orospiza is a junior objective synonym of Montifringilla.[14]
For somewhat different reasons, Orites is a junior objective synonym of Montifringilla. First proposed for the
Footnotes
- ^ "Passeridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993.
- ^ a b Cramp 1977, Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, Svensson et al. 1999
- ^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993
- ^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, Svensson et al. 1999
- ^ Brehm, Christian Ludwig (1828). "Montifringilla". Isis von Oken (in German). 21. Col. 1277.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-list of birds of the world. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 26.
- ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Old World sparrows, snowfinches, weavers". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- PMID 16624593.
- ^ Bonaparte 1850, pp. 511–512, Mlíkovský 1998, Lei et al. 2005
- ^ Bonaparte 1850, p. 538, Mlíkovský 1998, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, uBio 2005
- ^ Bonaparte 1850, p. 538.
- ^ a b uBio 2005.
- ^ Horsfield & Moore 1858, Smith 2001, uBio 2005
References
- Bonaparte, C. L. (1850). Conspectus generum avium. Vol. 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
- Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John (1993). Finches and Sparrows: an identification guide. ISBN 0-7136-8017-2.
- Cramp, S. (1977). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-857358-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Horsfield, Thomas; Moore, Frederic (1858). "Genus Montifringillla". A catalogue of the birds in the museum of the Hon. East-India Company. Vol. 1. London: W.H. Allen and Co. p. 491.
- International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999). International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th ed.). London: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. ISBN 0-85301-006-4. Archived from the originalon 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
- Lei, Fu-Min; Wang, Ai-Zhen; Wang, Gang; Yin, Zuo-Hua (2005). "Vocalizations of red-necked snow finch, Pyrgilauda ruficollis on the Tibetan Plateau, China – a syllable taxonomic signal?" (PDF). Folia Zoologica. 54 (1–2): 135–146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
- Mlíkovský, Jirí (1998). "Generic name of southern snowfinches" (PDF). Forktail. 14: 85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2012.
- Smith, J. D. D., ed. (2001). "[Moehring, P.H.G. (1758): Geslachten der Vogelen suppressed for nomenclatorial purposes]". Official lists and indexes of names and works in zoology, Supplement 1986–2000 (PDF). London: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. p. 94. ISBN 0-85301-007-2.
- Svensson, Lars; Zetterström, Dan; Mullarney, Killian; Grant, Peter J. (1999). Collins Bird Guide. London: Harper & Collins. ISBN 0-00-219728-6.
- uBio (2005). "Digital Nomenclator Zoologicus, version 0.86". Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
External links
- Media related to Passeridae on the Internet Bird Collection