Rosy-finches
I am always amazed by how many birds migrate to our place in the winter months. Before moving here, it had never occurred to me that northern Wyoming would actually be a place of refuge during the frosty months.
Perhaps the most unexpected winter residents are the rosy-finches, in part because they appear so small and delicate. But that appearance belies a toughness that would put many other birds to shame.
A collection of gray-crowned rosy-finches enjoying the sun.
There are three distinct species of rosy-finches in the western U.S.: Brown-capped, gray-crowned and black. The latter two are common winter visitors to our yard while the brown-capped live further south in Colorado and New Mexico. All three species of the birds are considered species of concern with brown-capped and black especially at risk due to their small numbers and limited range.
Very little is known about rosy-finches. They spend the summer months high in the alpine, above tree line, with breeding territories confined to remote and rocky terrain. One of the reasons they are endangered is that climate change, in the form of global warming, is adversely affecting the habitat in which they live.
A black rosy-finch I photographed in the Beartooth Mountains in the summer of 2012.
By far the majority of my sightings of these birds occur in the winter months when they move into our yard and even share our house until the snow begins to melt on the mountain tops in March. Every evening around 4pm, the rosy-finches arrive back from their daily wanderings and disburse themselves throughout the cubby holes under our deck roofs where they tuck their heads under their wings and go still until the following morning.
I have no great photos of the birds as they prepare to sleep for the night as I really don’t want to disturb them once they have settled in. They remind me of otters – they go at it full steam all day long and then appear to faint dead away when it comes time to retire. There is a certain amount of squabbling that goes on before they quiet down as they can’t seem to tolerate more than one bird per 16″ space and the last thing I want to do is bother them after they have worked it all out. We have 88 individual spaces available but often that is not enough and so we have tacked up slats such as the one you see in the photo below, left, that serve as overflow parking when all else is occupied.
Four rosies settle into their cubbies for the night
Head tucked, the rosy on the left prepares for sleep.
During the daylight hours of the winter months, various sized groups of the birds show up at our feeders throughout the day. These are almost always mixed flocks with the majority gray-crowned and approximately one in thirty a black.
We see two different subspecies of the gray-crowned: the Hepburn’s or gray-cheeked, shown on the left, and the Interior, shown on the right. There is a considerable amount of variation in coloring even within the subspecies depending on age and gender of the bird.
Gray-crowned (Hepburn’s)
Gray-crowned (Interior)
It is always a thrill to positively identify a black rosy-finch in the mix because they are relatively rare.
It is surprisingly difficult to pick out a black in the middle of a flock of gray-crowned but much easier when they perch side-by-side.
Black rosy-finch on sandstone
Rosy-finches obtain much of their moisture in the winter months by eating snow.
When it is warm enough, we turn on the water at the pond behind our house which is always a big hit.
I had noticed the pinyon jays perching on the top of this small pine tree near the finch feeder so I decided to tie a bow on it (which the pinyons immediately knocked askew!) When I went out this morning I found a black rosy-finch claiming it as his own.
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