The elusive rosy-finches that call Alta home.
Rosy-Finches are a lot like Alta locals—they thrive in the mountains, welcome a good snowstorm and follow the seasons through the high country. These rare, medium-sized finches, with dark bodies and pink-tinted feathers, are a prized sight for birders and scientists across the world. Adapted to rugged, high-altitude terrain, they’re tough to spot and even harder to study. Luckily, Alta is one of the best places in the world to see these birds—regularly visiting our community feeders across the mountain.
Rosy-finches enjoying the Collins patrol feeder | Photo: Iz La Motte
Alta is home to two subspecies of the Gray-crowned rosy-finch—the Gray-crowned and Hepburn’s—and the rare Black Rosy-Finch. The Black Rosy-Finch is especially mysterious—one of North America's least understood and least studied birds. Unfortunately, rosy-finch populations may be declining and are now recognized as a species of conservation concern.
Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finch
R: Hepburn's Rosy-Finch — L: Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finch
The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch is a hardy songbird that nests in high, rugged terrain. In winter, it moves to lower elevations, often joining mixed flocks at feeders to forage for seeds. Males are rich brown with pink highlights, gray on the sides of the head and a black forecrown and throat. Females look similar but with less pink. Their bills are yellow, while juveniles are brown with grayish wings and a dusky bill.
Alta is home to two subspecies:
- Hepburn's Rosy-Finch: the gray crown encompasses the full cheek.
- Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Interior): the gray crown follows the eye line.
Black Rosy-Finch
The elusive Black Rosy-Finch | Photo: National Audubon Society
The Black Rosy-Finch is the rarest of the Rosy-Finches—built for life in extreme mountain conditions. Medium-sized with a conical bill, breeding birds are mostly black with pink highlights on the wings and lower belly, plus a gray crown. In nonbreeding season, they turn brownish but keep the same pink accents. Breeders have black bills, while nonbreeders’ bills are yellow. In winter, they gather in large flocks and sometimes visit feeders, picking up fallen seeds from the ground.
The Rosy-Finch Project
Climate change is pushing alpine habitats to higher elevations—threatening the black rosy-finch’s already limited range. Conservation efforts risk being ineffective or nonexistent without basic data on their population and movements. To bridge this gap, a collaborative study was launched in 2020—led by Sageland Collaborative, the U.S. Forest Service, Tracy Aviary, Utah State University and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources with support from the Alta Environmental Center (AEC).
Four Gray-crowned Rosy-finches at RFID feeder | Photo: Iz La Motte
Using an RFID network of bird feeders placed along known migration routes, scientists and community volunteers track finches with tiny RFID bands. Each time a banded bird visits a feeder, its unique ID, location, date and time are recorded—helping researchers fill in critical data gaps. At Alta, AEC supports banding efforts and Ski Patrol helps keep the Collins Lift feeder stocked with black oil sunflower seeds.
The community-led feeder count has concluded after three years, but banding and RFID tracking continue across Utah. The goal is to better understand the species’ status and guide meaningful conservation action.
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