Brown-capped rosy-finch population assessment pilot study

Brown-capped rosy-finch population assessment pilot study

The Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (BCRF; Leucosticte australis) is a small, hardy passerine that resides in high elevation alpine environments throughout the year. It has the smallest range of the three closely related species of Rosy-Finch (L. atrata, L. tephrocotis) with it being almost completely endemic to Colorado, though populations extend into northern New Mexico and southern Wyoming (Johnson et al. 2000). Their breeding habitat occurs predominantly on U.S. Forest Service lands with many acres in designated wilderness based on Colorado Parks and Wildlife predicted range model developed for the species (Figure 1). Suitable nest sites are normally found near steep cliff faces or rocky, talus slopes away from excessive human disturbance (Johnson et al. 2000). The species is monogamous with males defending floating territories around their mates. All Rosy-Finch species have been found to have skewed sex ratios with females being the limiting resource (Shreeve 1980a, Johnson et al. 2000). BCRF produce only one clutch per season with clutch size small varying from 3-6 eggs (mean 4.22; Johnson et al. 2000). Like other alpine avian species reduced reproductive output, in response to high elevation environmental conditions, has lead to increased plasticity and alteration of life history traits to favor adult survival over high reproductive output to maintain population numbers (Bears et al. 2009, Martin 2014).

Seglund, Amy

Runge, Jon

Flenner, Michelle

Bernier, Kathryn

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (BCRF)

Colorado

New Mexico

Southern Wyoming

Breeding habitat

Population

22 pages

2018-12-01

Text

application/pdf

English

Colorado Parks and Wildlife