Description:

Medium-sized to large, slender, brownish finch with pointed bill, long wings and notched tail. Mantle boldly streaked with pale 'braces'. Unstreaked grey rump contrasts with mantle/back, and has prominent white tips to uppertail-coverts. Juvenile is a warmer rufous-buff on head, mantle and underparts.

Distribution:

Common resident and altitudinal migrant in all the higher areas of Gilgit-Baltistan. Found in mountains, hillsides and alpine meadows up to 4500m; descends to 2000m in winter to terraced fields, open forested slopes and cultivations.

Behavior:

Forages on open ground, in grassy areas among rocks or screes and, less frequently, in open woodland, where it perches in or on trees; often tame, and known to take household scraps around settlements. Feeds on mostly seeds of grasses and alpine herbs; occasionally small invertebrates.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Plain Mountain-Finch in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Plain Mountain-Finch

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.