Rufous-necked Snowfinch

Pyrgilauda ruficollis (Blanford, 1871)

≈15 cmLength23 gWeight

This plateau snowfinch has chestnut-brown on the rear ear-coverts and sides of the neck, and often nests and shelters in pika burrows during the breeding season.

Busiest months: June–July · Most records: China

Looks like Blanford's Snowfinch

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Adult has black lores and a whitish face
Rear ear-coverts and sides of neck chestnut
Otherwise pale brown, with dark streaks on upper back and scapulars
Two white wing-bars

Male, female and young

Juvenile is paler than adult, with no clear facial pattern.

Voice

Vocalizations are soft, with chattering when alarmed and buzzing in flight.

Similar species

Blanford's Snowfinch

May be confused with Blanford's Snowfinch; Rufous-necked Snowfinch has two black stripes on the face.

Where and when it's recorded

Rufous-necked Snowfinch has been recorded at 65 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 1 country or region.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Rubber Mountain PassChina143 records
E'La Mountain PassChina103 records
Flower LakeChina64 records

More places

Qinghai Lake – K11 hillChina48 records
Xiaobeihu Freshwater MarshChina43 records
Temple of Princess WenchengChina37 records
Longbao NNRChina34 records
Gahai LakeChina31 records
Baizha ForestChina28 records
Yamdrok LakeChina24 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

Questions

How big is the Rufous-necked Snowfinch?

The Rufous-necked Snowfinch is about ≈15 cm long and weighs around 23 g.

Where does the Rufous-necked Snowfinch live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: south-central Palearctic in Tibetan Plateau alpine stony and grassy steppe: southwestern Xinjiang east to Qinghai and western Gansu, in south from eastern Ladakh, northern Nepal, northern Sikkim east to western Sichuan. It is most often recorded in China.

When is the best time to see the Rufous-necked Snowfinch?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in June and July (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Rufous-necked Snowfinch endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Rufous-necked Snowfinch as Least Concern.

What does the Rufous-necked Snowfinch eat?

Main food: Seeds.

What family is the Rufous-necked Snowfinch in?

It belongs to the family Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: ≈15 cm
Weight: 23 g
Habitat: Grassland
Diet: Seeds
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Partial migrant
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 92 mm
Tail: 53 mm
Bill: 14 mm
Tarsus: 20 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: south-central Palearctic in Tibetan Plateau alpine stony and grassy steppe: southwestern Xinjiang east to Qinghai and western Gansu, in south from eastern Ladakh, northern Nepal, northern Sikkim east to western Sichuan

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 2