Grey-crowned goldfinch

Grey-crowned goldfinch
Grey-crowned goldfinch in Gilgit, Pakistan
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Carduelis
Species:	C. caniceps
Binomial name
Carduelis caniceps Vigors, 1831
Breeding summer visitor   Breeding resident   Non-breeding winter visitor   Vagrant
Synonyms
Carduelis carduelis caniceps For the subspecies - paropanisi - Carduelis caniceps subcaniceps subulata - Fringilla subulata, Passer carduelis var. jenisensis, Fringilla orientalis, Cardueis caniceps poliakovi

The grey-crowned goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps), also known as the eastern goldfinch, Himalayan goldfinch or the grey-capped goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae that is distributed throughout Central Asia and the Himalayas. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Etymology

The genus name Carduelis comes from Linnaeus's specific epithet for the European Goldfinch Fringilla carduelis. Carduelis is the Latin name for the goldfinch. ^[4]

The epithet caniceps is derived from the Latin canus (grey) and caput (head). ^[5]

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships among the Carduelis species are shown below, based from the data by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. ^[6]

Carduelis	Grey-crowned goldfinch, C. caniceps European goldfinch, C. carduelis Citril finch, C. citrinella Corsican finch, C. corsicana

The grey-crowned goldfinch separated from the European goldfinch about 1.5 million years ago, in the Quaternary period.

Taxonomy

Although first described by Vigors as a distinct species ^[7] , the grey-crowned goldfinch was until recently widely treated as a subspecies group in the European goldfinch, primarily because it hybridised with it in southwestern Siberia and northern Iran. In 2016, BirdLife International restored its species status, and in 2024, the IOC World Bird List followed suit, accepting it as a separate species because of its very distinct plumage, lacking the black crown and vertical line behind the ear coverts of its relative. ^[1]

Subspecies

Four subspecies are currently accepted: ^[8]

• Carduelis caniceps paropanisi Kollibay, 1910 (Western Turkmenistan and eastern Iran to northwest China) - paler face than C. c. caniceps and breast is almost entirely grey ^{[9] [10]}
• Carduelis caniceps subulata Gloger, 1833 (Northeast Kazakhstan, Siberia and Mongolia) - largest subspecies, upperparts pale buffish grey or tinged with cinnamon ^[10]
• Carduelis caniceps caniceps Vigors, 1831 (Western and northern Pakistan and northwestern Himalayas east to central Nepal) - smaller and darker grey than C. c. subulata ^[10]
• Carduelis caniceps ultima Koelz, 1949 - southern Iran (often considered to be conspecific with C. c. paropanisi) - longer billed than C. c. paropanisi ^{[1] [10] [11]}

Description

The grey-crowned goldfinch is 10.5–14 cm (4.1–5.5 in) long with a wingspan of 21.5–25.5 cm (8.5–10.0 in). ^{[12] [13] [14]} They weigh about 15–21 g (0.53–0.74 oz).

Feathers

The male has a brighter and more extensive red on the face and brighter yellow on the wing ^[15] than the female, which appears to be the only notable difference between the sexes. ^[1] Both sexes have a pinkish bill. ^[16]

The juvenile lacks the red in the face, has faint streaking on breast and has buffish tips to coverts and tertial markings. ^[17]

Its calls include twittering "deedelit" and "chirik". The song is a long mix of pleasant bubbling and twittering. ^{[13] [14] [16]}

Distribution

The grey-crowned goldfinch breeds in southern and eastern Iran east through Afghanistan to the western Himalaya in northern and western Pakistan, northwestern India, and western Nepal, and northeast through Central Asia to the far west of Xinjiang in China. In the nonbreeding season it is found to lower levels in the Himalaya and Central Asia; in the Himalaya, it is a altitudinal migrant, breeding at 2,400–4,200 m altitude (rarely down to 1,500 m), and descending in winter to 1,900–2,400 m (rarely down to 75 m) altitude; ^[13] similar altitudinal migration also occurs in Kazakhstan. ^[18]

It occupies open and sparse deciduous woodland, mixed deciduous and conifer woods, forest edges at an altitude of 2100-3600 m, ^[19] orchards and often parks and gardens. ^[1] It usually lives at altitudes higher than the European goldfinch. ^[20]

Vagrancy

The species has been recorded as a vagrant in Beijing, China. ^[21] A vagrant, possibly C.carduelis subulata, was recorded in Japan. ^[22]

Escaped or released captive birds have been reported in North America, but much more rarely than European goldfinch, with fewer than 1% of the number of that species. ^{[23] [24]}

Behaviour and ecology

Flocks

They gather in flocks of four to several dozen birds and sometimes with other finches. They usually forage on the ground. ^[25] They form flocks during autumn and winter to forage for food. ^[16]

Feeding on sunflower seeds

Diet

The diet consists mainly of seeds of various flowers, such as thistles, sunflowers, zinnia, chinar and dandelions. ^[26] They are also known to eat arthropods. ^[1]

Breeding

Their breeding season occurs from April to August. They nest in groups with up to five nests in one tree.

Nests, which are constructed by the female (although the male might assist in collection of material) are neatly constructed with mosses and grasses in the shape of a cup. Nests are located as high as 18m or higher. ^{[27] [1]} It lays bluish-white eggs speckled with red and brown. The eggs, which are similar to those of European goldfinch, are about 1.8 cm × 1.3 cm (0.71 in × 0.51 in). ^{[28] [10]} Cooperative breeding is not known in this species. ^[1]

The eggs are incubated by the female for 9-12 days; the chicks stay in the nest for 13-18 days after hatching, and are fed by the parents for up to 10 days after leaving the nest. ^[10]

Hybridization

The grey-crowned goldfinch has been known to hybridize with C.carduelis frigoris (with C.caniceps subulata in Siberia) and with C.carduelis brevirostris (with C.caniceps paropanisi, in Iran). ^[29]

Gallery

• 
  subspecies C. c. caniceps in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
• 
  juvenile of subspecies C. c. caniceps in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
• 
  subspecies C. c. paropanisi in Uzbekistan
• 
  subspecies C. c. subulata in Russia

References

1. Kirwan, Guy M.; Moura, Nárgila; Clement, Peter; Pyle, Peter; Boesman, Peter F. D. (2024). "Grey-crowned Goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps), version 1.0" . Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.eurgol2.01. ISSN   2771-3105.
2. "BirdLife DataZone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
3. "Gray-crowned Goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
4. Paynter, Raymond A. Jnr. (1968). Check-list of the birds of the world, Volume 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 234.
5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names: From Aalge to Zusii (1. Aufl. ed.). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
6. "Phylogeny Explorer - Birds of the World". birdsoftheworld.org. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
7. Zoological Society of London.; London, Zoological Society of; London, Zoological Society of (1830). Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London. Vol. pt.1-2 (1830-1832). [London]: Printed for the Society by Richard Taylor.
8. "Finches, euphonias, longspurs, Thrush-tanager – IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
9. Clement, Peter (2011). Finches and Sparrows. Helm Identification Guides. John Davis, Alan Harris. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN   978-1-4081-3508-2.
10. Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David A.; Bock, Walter Joseph; Collar, Nigel James (2010). Handbook of the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx ed. ISBN   978-84-96553-68-2.
11. Vaurie, Charles (1949). Notes on some Asiatic finches. American Museum of Natural History Library. New York : American Museum of Natural History.
12. Hoyo, Josep del (2020). All the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. p. 768. ISBN   978-84-16728-37-4.
13. Kazmierczak, Krys; Perlo, Ber van (2000). A field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 300. ISBN   0-300-07921-4.
14. Cramp, Stanley (1994). Cramp, Stanley (ed.). Crows to finches. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa : the birds of the Western Palearctic / Stanley Cramp (Ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN   978-0-19-854679-5.
15. Blanford, W. T. (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma.
16. "Gray-crowned Goldfinch - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
17. Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim (2016). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (2nd ed.). Christopher Helm. pp. 476–477. ISBN   978-81-93315-09-5.
18. Wassink, Arend; Oreel, G.J. (2007). The Birds of Kazakhstan. Arend Wassink. ISBN   978-90-81146-21-0.
19. Grimmett, Richard (2008). Birds of Pakistan. Helm Field Guides. Tim Inskipp. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN   978-0-7136-8800-9.
20. Ayé, Raffael; Schweizer, Manuel; Roth, Tobias (2012). Birds of Central Asia. Helm Field Guides. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN   978-0-7136-7038-7.
21. su, peng (2023-12-05). "eBird Checklist - 5 Dec 2023 - 绿堤公园 (Green Bank Park) - 37 species". ebird.org. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
22. Chikara, Otani (2019). Birds of Japan. Lynx Edicions. ISBN   9788416728121.
23. Craves, Julie A.; Anich, Nicholas M. (2023-01-24). "Status and distribution of an introduced population of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region of North America". NeoBiota. 81: 129–155. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.81.97736 . ISSN   1314-2488.
24. McGrath, Steven (2020-02-04). "Gray-crowned Goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
25. Grewal, Bikram; Bhatia, Garima (2014). A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (1st ed.). John Beaufoy Publishing. p. 147. ISBN   9788172345389.
26. Ali, Salim; Ripley, Sidney Dillon (December 1999). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan: Together with Those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
27. Bates, R. S. P.; Lowther, E. H. N. (December 1991). Breeding Birds of Kashmir. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195625622.
28. Dresser, H. E. (1881). A History of the Birds of Europe Including All the Species Inhabiting the Western Palearctic Region. Vol. 1.
29. Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan (1999). Finches & sparrows (Pb.- Ausg ed.). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN   978-0-691-04878-9.