BROWN-CAPPED ROSY FINCH 373 



LEUCOSTIGTE AUSTRALIS Ridgeway 



Brown-capped Rosy Fiiich 



PLATE 21 



Contributed by Fred Mallery Packard 



Habits 



The high rugged mountains of Colorado are the home of the brown- 

 capped rosy finch, a species with close affinities for the arctic en- 

 vu'onment of that region. Its range is almost entkely restricted 

 to the western half of Colorado, although it has been found in northern 

 New Mexico near the Colorado boundary. Nesting on peaks, usually 

 above 12,000 feet, it migrates altitudinally to the lower hills for the 

 whiter. It rarely descends below 6,000 feet, and it has not been 

 recorded below 5,000 feet. 



Within its limited range the brown-capped rosy finch is a common 

 bird, especially nmnerous on the lofty meadows of the Front Range 

 and Arapahoe Peaks that form the eastern chain of the Rocky 

 Mountains. An ascent of almost any suitable peak in Colorado in 

 summer should result in the discovery of one or more groups of these 

 finches flying up from the tundra, feeding on the lingermg snow-banks, 

 or perched on a nearby outcrop. They, with the white-tailed 

 ptarmigan, are truly birds of the summits; of the species that nest 

 above timberhne the ptarmigan remains closer to its summer home 

 throughout the year. 



Courtship. — Although brown-capped rosy fhiches are plentiful and 

 locally abundant throughout their range, few trained observers have 

 recorded their behavior prior to the nesting season. Because mmch 

 of their high alpine habitat is nearly or completely inaccessible to man 

 until very late spring, little information about their territorial and 

 courtship habits is available. 



Lack (1940) writes that they arrive on the arctic tundra in sizable 

 flocks, already paired. F. W. MiUer (AIS.) notes that "as mating 

 takes place, the flocking is stiU adhered to, even with eggs or young in 

 the nest, they always appear in company. But the flocks are less 

 unified, and the pairs and individuals act independently." Robert 

 J. Niedrach, Assistant Du-ector of the Denver Museum of Natural 

 History, who has studied the bird life of Colorado for more than 50 

 years, told me that during the mating period, from the last 2 weeks 

 of June to early July, the male performs a conspicuous song flight. 

 Undulating in a large circle that covers 10 to 20 acres, he sings on the 

 wing steadily for 5 or 10 minutes before finally descending to the 

 ground to feed. The male sings actively during the early part of 

 nesting, but less so when incubation begins. Thereafter, only an 



