Desert Finch

Rhodospiza obsoleta (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)

Desert Finch, Rhodospiza obsoleta, breeds across dry parts of the Palearctic from south-eastern Turkey through southern Kazakhstan, western and northern Xinjiang, far south-western Mongolia and central Inner Mongolia, with further populations in the Sinai Peninsula, central Saudi Arabia, south-eastern Iran, northern Afghanistan and north-central Pakistan. It is a finch of dry scrub, orchards and gardens, and makes short southward movements outside the breeding season. A stout black bill is one of its key features, along with black and white flight and tail feathers and a rosy-pink mark on each wing.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Fringillidae — Finches, Euphonias

Breeding range

Palearctic: temperate to subtropical sc, c Palearctic in dry scrub, orchards, gardens: se Turkey e through s Kazakhstan, w, n Xinjiang (nw China), far sw Mongolia to c Inner Mongolia (nc China); in s to Sinai Pen., c Saudi Arabia, se Iran, n Afghanistan and nc Pakistan

Nonbreeding range

short-range southward movements