Name: Wild Birds Unlimited
Address: 2047 Oak Street, #105, Bozeman, MT, 59718

FUN GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH FACTS

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch photo by JT

When compared to the size of other finches, the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch would be considered a medium size finch
The coloration of the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is a dark brown, with gray cheek patches that wrap around the back of the head
Their foreheads are black
Belly, rump and wings are a pinkish color
Juvenile Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches are duller in color than the adult female and lack the gray crown, black forehead and pinkish belly, rump and wings
Length: 5.5-8.3 in.
Wingspan: 13 in.
Weight: 0.8-2.1 oz

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches live in extreme environments, in open ground at the tops of mountains from Alaska to California
They also inhabit the Alaskan Aleutian and Pribilof islands
During breeding season the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch can be found in alpine areas, near now fields, or glaciers, talus, rock piles and cliffs
In the winter they can be found in open country, including mountain meadows, shrub lands, roadsides, towns, farmland, rocky hillsides, and beside dry ditches

Favorite foods for the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch are seed, insects and some vegetation
They will pick insects from low growing plants and from snowfields
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches will also capture flying insects and forage in conifers

The nest off the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is shaped like a bulky cup and is made of moss, lichen, grass, and sedge
Inside, the nest is lines with hair, fine grass, wool, and feathers
Placement of the nest is usually in a crack or hole in a cliff; however, the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch will sometimes make its nest on the ground
Rarely will the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch make its nest on a building
Their nests are usually hidden in the cracks or crevasses of cliffs, or among boulders
Clutch size: 2-6 eggs
Egg description: White, without marks, or with some reddish or brownish speckles
Condition at Hatching: Helpless. They are covered with long gray down that barely covered the skin

Gray-crowned Rosy finches will eat from backyard feeders
Feeder preferences are the large tube feeders, small tube feeders, large hopper feeders, and the small hopper feeders
Food preferences, when eating from feeders, are black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, and Nyjer

There are six subspecies of the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Of the six subspecies, the Pribilof and Aleutian types are larger, weighing roughly twice the smaller subspecies
Three of the subspecies, found in the interior mountains, have brown cheeks, while the others have gray cheeks
Gray-crowned Rosy-finches are pretty fearless, perhaps because of their remote breeding grounds. Therefore, foraging birds can be approached within 3-6 feet
Few Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch nests have been found, perhaps because of their remote locations
Six years and seven months of age when captured for banding and released back into the wild, is the age of the oldest recorded Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch