Rosefinch


The rosefinches are a genus, Carpodacus, of passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae. Most are called "rosefinches" and as the word implies, have various shades of red in their plumage. The common rosefinch is frequently called the "rosefinch". The genus name is from Ancient Greek karpos, "fruit" and dakno, "to bite".
The Carpodacus rosefinches occur throughout Eurasia, but the greatest diversity is found in the Sino-Himalayas suggesting that the species originated in this region.

Systematics

In 2012, Zuccon and colleagues published a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of the finch family. Based both on their own results and those published earlier by other groups, they proposed a series of changes to the taxonomy. They found that the three North American rosefinches, namely Cassin's finch, purple finch, and house finch, formed a separate clade that was not closely related to the Palearctic rosefinches. They proposed moving the three species to a separate genus Haemorhous. This proposal was accepted by the International Ornithological Committee and the American Ornithologists' Union. Zuccon and colleagues also found that the common rosefinch fell outside the core rosefinch clade and was a sister to the scarlet finch. They recommended that the common rosefinch should be moved to a new monotypic genus with the resurrected name of Erythrina. The British Ornithologists' Union accepted this proposal, but the International Ornithological Union chose instead to adopt a more inclusive Carpodacus which incorporated Haematospiza as well as the monotypic genus Chaunoproctus containing the extinct Bonin grosbeak. The long-tailed rosefinch that had previously been included in the monotypic genus Uragus was also moved into Carpodacus.
Two species that were formerly included in the genus, Blanford's rosefinch and the dark-breasted rosefinch, were shown to not be closely related to the other species in the group. They were moved to separate monotypic genera, Blanford's rosefinch to Agraphospiza and the dark-breasted rosefinch to Procarduelis.
Sillem's mountain finch was originally assigned to the genus Leucosticte but a phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2016 found that the species belonged to the genus Carpodacus.
There have been a number of rosefinch radiations. First to split off were the ancestors of the North American species, the common rosefinch, and the scarlet finch, generally placed in its own genus. These groups, which may be related, diverged in the Middle Miocene from the proto-rosefinches. Each of these groups probably should constitute a distinct genus; in the case of the North American species, this is Haemorhous. The types of the genera Erythrina Brehm 1829 and Carpodacus Kaup 1829 are frequently considered to be the common rosefinch, but both refer to Pallas's rosefinch.
Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Hawaiian honeycreepers are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus Carpodacus. The most recent common ancestor has been variously estimate at 7.24 million years ago and 15.71 mya.
Przewalski's "rosefinch" has been determined to be not a rosefinch, and indeed not a true finch at all, but to constitute a monotypic family Urocynchramidae.

Species

The genus Carpodacus contains 27 species. They all include 'rosefinch' in their English names apart from the scarlet finch, the crimson-browed finch, Sillem's mountain finch and the extinct Bonin grosbeak.
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Common rosefinchCarpodacus erythrinusAsia and Europe.
Scarlet finchCarpodacus sipahithe Himalayas from Uttarakhand state in the Indian Himalayas eastwards across Nepal, stretching further east to the adjacent hills of Northeast India and Southeast Asia as far south as Thailand.
Bonin grosbeakCarpodacus ferreorostris Chichi-jima in the Ogasawara Islands.
Streaked rosefinchCarpodacus rubicilloidesBhutan, China, India, and Nepal.
Great rosefinchCarpodacus rubicillaAfghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and east to China
Blyth's rosefinchCarpodacus grandisnorthern Afghanistan to the western Himalayas.
Red-mantled rosefinchCarpodacus rhodochlamysin Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Himalayan beautiful rosefinchCarpodacus pulcherrimusmid-western China and the northern Himalayas.
Chinese beautiful rosefinchCarpodacus davidianusChina
Pink-rumped rosefinchCarpodacus waltonicentral China and eastern Tibet
Pink-browed rosefinchCarpodacus rhodochroaBhutan, Tibet, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Dark-rumped rosefinchCarpodacus edwardsiiBhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.
Spot-winged rosefinchCarpodacus rhodopeplusIndia and Nepal
Sharpe's rosefinchCarpodacus verreauxiicentral China and far northern Myanmar.
Vinaceous rosefinchCarpodacus vinaceusNepal, China and far northern Myanmar.
Taiwan rosefinchCarpodacus formosanusTaiwan
Sinai rosefinchCarpodacus synoicusEgypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
Pale rosefinchCarpodacus stoliczkaeAfghanistan and China
Tibetan rosefinchCarpodacus roborowskiiXinjiang Autonomous Region.-
Sillem's mountain finchCarpodacus sillemiChina, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia.
Long-tailed rosefinchCarpodacus sibiricusChina, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.
Pallas's rosefinchCarpodacus roseusChina, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.
Three-banded rosefinchCarpodacus trifasciatuscentral China and far northeastern India.
Himalayan white-browed rosefinchCarpodacus thuraAfghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Chinese white-browed rosefinchCarpodacus dubiuscentral China and eastern Tibet.
Red-fronted rosefinchCarpodacus puniceusAfghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan
Crimson-browed finchCarpodacus subhimachalusBhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.