Species Focus - Sinai Rosefinch

Searching for a pink bird on a pink mountain

The Sinai Rosefinch Carpodacus synoicus , also known as the Pale Rosefinch, is an evocative species that I was keen to try and find during my time at Eilat, Israel.

An elusive desert-adapted finch, they breed high on mountains in Israel, Sinai, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The terrain they favour is incredibly barren and dominated by exposed rock, a far cry from the more verdant habitat preferred by their relatives the Common Rosefinch in Europe and the House, Purple and Cassin's Finches in the USA. Small numbers spend the winter in Southern Israel where they can be found at lower altitude, arriving in late November in the Eilat Mountains.

After failing to see any at the local spot throughout November, we finally managed to find a flock three days before I left Israel at the end of the month. A location boasting impressive geology called Amram's Pillars, it is around 45 minutes from Eilat and requires a drive into the mountain foothills along an un-surfaced road.

Amram's Pillars, named after this formation. November 2015.

   

Female and juvenile Sinai Rosefinches are dull sandy brown with the distinctive bill of a seed-eater. The flock of 12 birds that we found boasted only one adult male, apparently a common sex and age ratio. Unlike the female, the male is truly stunning, a bright pink bird which brightens to scarlet around the head set off by a white crown. The male kept at a further distance than the majority of the flock and I unfortunately did not manage any good photos.  

Female/juvenile Sinai Rosefinch. Eilat Mountains, November 2015.

Male Sinai Rosefinch. Eilat Mountains, November 2015.

This species has an interesting distribution with four subspecies all geographically isolated from each other. The nominate synoicus is restricted to the Middle East, salimalii to the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, stoliczkae to West China and beicki to Central China. All tied to their mountainous habitat and presumably separate for some time, questions have been raised as to their current taxonomical placement as subspecies.

Seeing these incredible desert specialists in an atmospheric wadi made of pink rock was a highlight of the trip and a suitable final species for the Eilat region.

 

The moon rises as the last light of the sun illuminates a ridge over the wide wadi where the Sinai Rosefinches visit each day to drink. The flock spent most of its time foraging on the pink mountainside on the right.
November 2015.