Description:

Medium-sized, brownish, streaky finch with pale wingbars, short, stubby bill and slightly forked tail. Rather plain, sandy-buff in coloration and heavily streaked, with buff wing-bars and white edges to wings and tail. Small bill is yellowish (black in breeding male). Male has pinkish rump (obscured in non-breeding plumage).

Distribution:

Common resident and altitudinal migrant allover Gilgit-Baltistan, rare in Diamer district. Inhabits high-altitude barren hillsides, scree slopes, boulder-strewn areas with sparse vegetation, steppes and alpine meadows between 2500m to 4000m.

Behavior:

Forages on the ground, and in low vegetation, bushes and trees. Takes seeds from ground, mud and edge of water; on ground, hops or shuffles. Perches on seed heads of tall plants to take seeds. In pairs or small groups. Feeds on mostly seeds and buds, also small numbers of insects.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Twite in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Twite

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.