White-winged Snowfinch

Montifringilla nivalis (Linnaeus, 1766)

White-winged Snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis, is a passerine of rocky alpine barrens, meadows and buildings across the south-west and central Palearctic, from northern Spain and southern France to Austria, Corsica, the Balkans and Greece, then through Turkey, the Caucasus, south-west Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, south-east Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, far south-central Russia and western and central Mongolia. It is a sparrow, not a true finch. In breeding areas it is tied to bare mountain country, and outside the breeding season some birds move to lower elevations.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passeridae — Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches

Breeding range

Palearctic: sw, c Palearctic in rocky alpine barrens, meadows, buildings: n Spain, s France to Austria, Corsica, Balkans and Greece, s, e Turkey, Caucasus to sw Russia, s, nw Iran, c, e Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and se Kazakhstan through Xinjiang (nw China), far sc Russia and w, c Mongolia

Nonbreeding range

some movement to lower elevations