The Long-tailed Rosefinch was split relatively recently based on a taxonomic revision. Two of the previous subspecies are now the Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, and the other three are the Chinese Long-tailed Rosefinch.

Somewhat counterintuitively, the Long-tailed Rosefinch in the North of Inner Mongolia is the Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch.

Apart from that, there is not too much interesting to say about the species – I guess it is too cold at least in its wintering grounds to do much research.

Unless you are interested in chewing lice – a Japanese paper reports on a new species of chewing lice on a Long-tailed Rosefinch: “The lice discovered on the bird confirmed as belonging to the family Philopteridae of the suborder Ischnocera, by the following features: the snout did not extend from the head, there were two claws on each leg, and the antennae, which were elongated, were filiform, had five sections, and reached the corner roots.”

But it is such a beautiful bird that it justifies its own post, lice or not.

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has been living in Shanghai for 21 years. He only became interested in birds in China – so he is much more familiar with birds in China than with those in Germany. While he will only ever be an average birder, he aims to be a good bird photographer and has created a website with bird photos as proof. He hopes not too many clients of his consulting company read this blog, as they will doubt his dedication to providing consulting services related to China`s chemical industry. Whenever he wants to shock other birders, he tells them his (indoor) cats can distinguish several warblers by taste.