Brandt's Mountain Finch

Leucosticte brandti Bonaparte, 1850

Brandt's Mountain Finch, Leucosticte brandti, is a finch of the Fringillidae family that breeds across the high mountains of the central and southern Palearctic, from the Tienshan and Altai to the Himalayas. It occurs in barren alpine country in Kazakhstan, Russia, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the Karakorum, Tibet, the Inner Himalayas, Myanmar, Qinghai and Gansu. Some birds move to lower elevations outside the breeding season. It was described by Bonaparte in 1850.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Fringillidae — Finches, Euphonias

Breeding range

Oriental Region: c, sc Palearctic from Tienshan to Altai and Himalayas in barren high-alpine zone: e Kazakhstan ne to Altay and Tuva regions (sc Russia), w, nw Xinjiang (nw China) and n, w Mongolia; in s through ne Afghanistan, e in Karakorum, s, c, e Tibet and Inner Himalayas to far n Myanmar, ne to n Qinghai and nw Gansu (nc China)

Nonbreeding range

some move to lower elevations