White-rumped Snowfinch

Onychostruthus taczanowskii (Przevalski, 1876)

White-rumped Snowfinch Onychostruthus taczanowskii is a passerine in the sparrow family Passeridae, breeding across the Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe from high-montane Ladakh through Tibet to north-west Nepal and north Sikkim, with its range also reaching north-east Qinghai, south Gansu and north-west Sichuan. Outside the breeding season it moves to somewhat lower elevations and into settlements. It is the only species in the genus Onychostruthus. It was described by Przevalski in 1876.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passeridae — Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches

Breeding range

Palearctic: sc Palearctic in Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe: high-montane se Ladakh (far nw India), w to e Tibet, ne Qinghai and s Gansu, s to nw Sichuan (c China) and s to nw Nepal and n Sikkim

Nonbreeding range

to somewhat lower elevations and settlements