Crimson-winged finch

The crimson-winged finch (Rhodopechys sanguineus) is a pale-colored thickset finch with a heavy, dull yellowish bill. It is the only species placed in the genus Rhodopechys. It is found in North Africa and from Turkey to northeast Pakistan. The crimson-winged finch has sometimes been split into two species, the African crimson-winged finch and the Asian crimson-winged finch.

The crimson-winged finch was formally described in 1838 by the English ornithologist John Gould based on a specimen collected at Erzurum in eastern Turkey. He placed the species with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla sanguinea. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "bloody", from sanguis, sanguinis meaning "blood". The crimson-winged finch is now the only species placed in the genus Rhodopechys that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis with the crimson-winged finch as the type species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ῥοδοπηχυς/rhodopēkhus, ῥοδοπηχυος/rhodopēkhuos meaning "rosy-armed", from ῥοδον/rhodon meaning "rose" and πηχυς/pēkhus, πηχεως/pēkheōs meaning "forear".

Two subspecies are recognised:

The crimson-winged finch has sometimes been split into two species with the subspecies R. s. sanguineus known as the Asian crimson-winged finch and the subspecies R. s. alienus known as the African crimson-winged finch.

There are several differences between Asian and African subspecies:

Male birds show the following additional differences:

This species lives on rocky mountainsides, often at high elevation. It can be found in barren landscapes with little vegetation, and sometimes nests in rock crevices. It feeds on seeds, and during the winter descends in flocks to agricultural fields to find food. The female lays and incubates 4 or 5 blue, lightly speckled eggs.

This species has a vast range and a large population, meeting neither range nor population size criteria for threat. While the population trend is unknown, it's not declining rapidly enough to approach vulnerability. Therefore, it's classified as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List.