The Brown-capped Rosy Finch (or Brown-capped Rosy-finch), Leucosticte australis, is a medium-sized finch.
Adults are brown on the head, back, and breast with pink on the belly, rump, and wings. The forehead is black. They have short black legs and a long forked tail.
Their breeding habitat is mountain peaks in the central Rocky Mountains of the United States. They build a cup nest in a cavity on a cliff, or re-use abandoned Cliff Swallow nests.
In winter, these birds migrate short distances to lower elevations.
These birds forage on the ground, but may fly to catch insects in flight. They mainly eat seeds from weeds and grasses and insects. They often feed in small flocks.
At one time, the three North American Rosy finches were considered to be one species.
The population of this bird appears to be declining.
Famous quotes containing the words rosy and/or finch:
“A land where all things always seemed the same!
And round about the keel with faces pale,
Dark faces pale against that rosy flame,
The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“No more shall the war cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red:
They banish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves of our dead!
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the Judgment Day:—
Love and tears for the Blue;
Tears and love for the Gray.”
—Francis Miles Finch (1827–1907)