Plain Mountain Finch

The plain mountain finch is a finch 14–15 cm long and 18–25 g, with colours and patterns resembling a house sparrow's, a slender build with long wings, a notched tail and a short pointed bill. It has a buff-brown head with tawny streaks, a beige neck and pale brown around the eye and cheek. It is a resident breeder across the Himalaya, in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Tibet and Turkmenistan (Wikipedia, general species account).

Females usually build nests in rocky holes and crevices about 2 m above ground and occasionally below ground in rodent burrows; the clutch is three to six pure white or pale pinkish eggs, incubated for 13–15 days by the female, who is fed by the male. In the non-breeding season the birds are found in high valleys, mountain forests, rocky cliffs, fields and towns. Songs include a sharper twittering, trit-tit-tit-tit, rick-pi-vitt or dui-dip-dip-dip, mixed with sweeter warbling notes. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant of alpine and cold desert with a Moderate range of about 155,000 km² and a decline of about 51% over the long term (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).