# Grey-crowned goldfinch

The grey-crowned goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps) is a small passerine bird in the finch family that is distributed throughout Central Asia and the Himalayas.

## Etymology

The genus name Carduelis comes from Linnaeus's specific epithet for the European Goldfinch Fringilla carduelis. Carduelis is the Latin name for the goldfinch.
The epithet caniceps is derived from the Latin canus (grey) and caput (head).

## Taxonomy

Although first described by Vigors as a distinct species, the grey-crowned goldfinch was until recently widely treated as a subspecies group in the European goldfinch, primarily because it hybridised with it in southwestern Siberia and northern Iran. In 2016, BirdLife International restored its species status, and in 2024, the IOC World Bird List followed suit, accepting it as a separate species because of its very distinct plumage, lacking the black crown and vertical line behind the ear coverts of its relative.

### Subspecies

Four subspecies are currently accepted:
* Carduelis caniceps paropanisi (Paropanis goldfinch) Kollibay, 1910 (Western Turkmenistan and eastern Iran to northwest China) - paler face than caniceps and breast is almost entirely grey
* Carduelis caniceps subulata (Siberian goldfinch) Gloger, 1833 (Northeast Kazakhstan, Siberia and Mongolia) - largest subspecies, upperparts pale buffish grey or tinged with cinnamon
* Carduelis caniceps caniceps (Himalayan goldfinch) Vigors, 1831 (Western and northern Pakistan and northwestern Himalayas east to central Nepal) - smaller and darker grey than subulata
* Carduelis caniceps ultima (Iran goldfinch) Koelz, 1949 - southern Iran (often considered to be conspecific with paropanisi) - longer billed than paropanisi

## Description

The grey-crowned goldfinch is 10.5–14 cm (4.1–5.5 in) long with a wingspan of 21.5–25.5 cm (8.5–10.0 in). They weigh about 15–21 g (0.53–0.74 oz).
The male has a brighter and more extensive red on the face and brighter yellow on the wing than the female, which appears to be the only notable difference between the sexes.
The juvenile lacks the red in the face, has faint streaking on breast and has buffish tips to coverts and tertial markings.
Its calls include twittering "deedelit" and "chirik".

## Distribution

The grey-crowned goldfinch breeds in southern and eastern Iran east through Afghanistan to the western Himalaya in northern and western Pakistan, northwestern India, and western Nepal, and northeast through Central Asia to the far west of Xinjiang in China. In the nonbreeding season it is found to lower levels in the Himalaya and Central Asia; in the Himalaya, it is a altitudinal migrant, breeding at 2,400–4,200 m altitude (rarely down to 1,500 m), and descending in winter to 1,900–2,400 m (rarely down to 75 m) altitude; similar altitudinal migration also occurs in Kazakhstan.
It occupies open and sparse deciduous woodland, mixed deciduous and conifer woods, forest edges at an altitude of 2100-3600 m, orchards and often parks and gardens. It usually lives at altitudes higher than the European goldfinch.
The species has been recorded as a vagrant as far east as Beijing in China. Escaped or released captive birds have been reported in North America, but much more rarely than European goldfinch, with fewer than 1% of the number of that species.

## Behaviour and ecology
### Flocks

They gather in flocks of four to several dozen birds and sometimes with other finches. They usually forage on the ground.

### Diet

The diet consists mainly of seeds of various flowers, such as thistles, sunflowers, zinnia, chinar and dandelions. They are also known to eat arthropods.

### Breeding

Their breeding season occurs from April to August. They nest in groups with up to five nests in one tree.
Nests, which are constructed by the female (although the male might assist in collection of material) are neatly constructed with mosses and grasses in the shape of a cup. Nests are located as high as 18 m or higher. It lays bluish-white eggs speckled with red and brown. The eggs, which are similar to those of European goldfinch, are about 1.8 cm × 1.3 cm (0.71 in × 0.51 in).
The chick is incubated by the female for 9-12 days, stays in the nest for 13-18 days, and is fed by the parents for up to 10 days after leaving the nest.

## Gallery

* subspecies C. c. caniceps in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
* juvenile of subspecies C. c. caniceps in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
* subspecies C. c. paropanisi in Uzbekistan
* subspecies C. c. subulata in Russia