Crimson-winged Finch

The crimson-winged finch (Rhodopechys sanguineus) is a pale-colored thickset finch with a heavy, dull yellowish bill. It is the only species placed in the genus Rhodopechys. It is found in North Africa and from Turkey to northeast Pakistan. The crimson-winged finch has sometimes been split into two species, the African crimson-winged finch and the Asian crimson-winged finch. == Taxonomy == The crimson-winged finch was formally described in 1838 by the English ornithologist John Gould based on a specimen collected at Erzurum in eastern Turkey. He placed the species with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla sanguinea. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "bloody", from sanguis, sanguinis meaning "blood". The crimson-winged finch is now the only species placed in the genus Rhodopechys that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis with the crimson-winged finch as the type species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ῥοδοπηχυς/rhodopēkhus, ῥοδοπηχυος/rhodopēkhuos meaning "rosy-armed", from ῥοδον/rhodon meaning "rose" and πηχυς/pēkhus, πηχεως/pēkheōs meaning "forear". Two subspecies are recognised: R. s. sanguineus (Gould, 1838) – Turkey to west China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan R. s. alienus Whitaker, 1897 – Morocco, Algeria The crimson-winged finch has sometimes been split into two…