Dark-breasted rosefinch

The dark-breasted rosefinch (Procarduelis nipalensis) is a species of true finch in the monotypic genus Procarduelis. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.

Dark-breasted rosefinch
Male at 9,800 ft in East Sikkim of the state of Sikkim, India
Female at 6,500 ft in Khangchendzonga National Park, West Sikkim, India
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Procarduelis Blyth, 1843
Species:	P. nipalensis
Binomial name
Procarduelis nipalensis (Hodgson, 1836)

Taxonomy

The dark-breasted rosefinch was formerly placed in the genus Carpodacus but was moved Procarduelis based on the results from the phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences.

Subspecies

Subspecific variation is mostly clinal, with the plumage becoming darker from west to east. There are between two-three recognised subspecies:

• P. n. nipalensis – Hodgson, 1836: The nominate, it is found in the Himalayas, from Kumaon to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and southeastern Tibet. Populations from southwestern China, south Tibet, and northern Vietnam are sometimes separated as a distinct subspecies, P. n. intensicolor.
• P. n. kangrae – Whistler, 1939: in the western Himalayas, from Kashmir to Garhwal.

Gallery

• 
  Male at 12,000 ft. from Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, East Sikkim, India
• 
  Male at 9,500 ft. in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India.
• 
  Female at 10,500 ft.in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India
• 
  Male at 11,000 ft. in Kullu - Manali District of Himachal Pradesh, India