Red-Breasted Rose Finch

(Pyrrhospiza punicea), a bird of the family Fringillidae, of the order Passeriformes. Its body length measures about 21 cm, and its weight, 50–60 g. In the male the head, breast, and upper tail coverts are red and the back is grayish brown. The female is grayish brown with greenish upper tail coverts. The red-breasted rose finch is distributed in the alpine and subalpine belts of the mountains of Central Asia. In the USSR it is distributed in the Dzungarian Alatau, the Tien-Shan, and the Pamir-Alai. In the winter the bird makes altitudinal migrations. It nests in rock crevices. There are four eggs in a clutch; the female incubates them. The bird feeds on seeds.