Rufous-necked Snowfinch

Pyrgilauda ruficollis (Blanford, 1871)

Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Pyrgilauda ruficollis, is a passerine of the Tibetan Plateau and adjoining parts of central and western China, with its breeding range extending from Xinjiang and Gansu to Qinghai, and south through Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and western Sichuan. It lives in alpine stony and grassy steppe. The bird is notable for its chestnut or reddish-brown sides of the neck and rear ear-coverts, set against a pale face with black lores. Adults and young differ in appearance, and the species has two black facial stripes.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passeridae — Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches

Breeding range

Palearctic: sc Palearctic in Tibetan Plateau alpine stony and grassy steppe: sw Xinjiang e to Qinghai and w Gansu, in s from e Ladakh, n Nepal, n Sikkim e to w Sichuan