Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Fringillidae Scientific name Pyrrhula cineracea | Phylum Chordata Order Passeriformes Genus Pyrrhula Rank Subspecies | |
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Similar Pallas's rosefinch, Grey‑headed bullfinch, Parrot crossbill, Pyrrhula, Great rosefinch | ||
The Baikal bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula cineracea), also known as the grey bullfinch, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is found in eastern Kazakhstan, Mongolia and adjacent areas of Russia and China. Although sometimes considered a full species Pyrrhula cineracea, most authorities treat it a subspecies of the Eurasian bullfinch. It migrates altitudinally from its summer breeding range in the Altai Mountains to its winter range in the adjacent foothills and plains.
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Description
The male differs from that of the nominate subspecies by having completely grey underparts.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy was described in 2001 by Arnaiz-Villena et al. All birds belonging to Genus Pyrrhula have a common ancestor: Pinicola enucleator.
Distribution and habitat
In Kazakhstan the bullfinch is a rare resident and common winter visitor. It breeds in the western Altai Mountains, including the Belaya Uba valley, and the Sayan Mountains (eastern Altai) of western Mongolia; in the southern Altai it breeds in the upper reaches of the Bukhtarma River, around Lake Markakol, and in the Kara-Kaba valley (where it intergrades with the nominate subspecies). On post-breeding dispersal and in winter it occurs mainly in the foothills and plains of eastern Kazakhstan, sometimes as far west as Semipalatinsk, Kurgaldzhino Reserve and Astana, Almaty, the Chu-Iliyskiye Mountains and at Kyzylorda in the Syr Darya valley.
The bullfinch inhabits fir forests with some deciduous trees, fir-larch and spruce-birch forest in river valleys and lake shores at altitudes of 1400–1800 m. On dispersal, the bullfinches visit deciduous forests with a shrubby understorey, riparian forests and thickets of tall weeds.
Breeding
The birds breed in the Altai from May, with scattered pairs nesting some distance from one another. A nest recorded in early May in a birch tree was built 5 m above the ground of thin twigs and dry grass lined with thin rootlets and hair. Fledglings and independent juvenile birds have been recorded from mid-July to early August. Dispersal from the breeding range begins in August and September, with birds appearing in south-eastern Kazakhstan from the end of October to early November, and remaining there until mid May.