Brandt's Mountain Finch

Brandt's mountain finch is 16.5–19 centimetres long and weighs 26–34 grams: slender or sturdy, light grey to blackish, with a pointed bill, long wings and a notched tail. The male of the nominate subspecies has a dark grey to grey head, blackish on the forehead and face, and a dark brown tail with all the outer feathers edged and tipped whitish. The lesser wing coverts are light grey with pale pink or white tips, the median coverts blackish with broad pale edges, and the throat and underparts grey-brown with a beige tint. Seven subspecies are recognised. (Russian Wikipedia, general species account)

In summer it nests on mountain cliffs and crags, barren treeless plateaus, stony fields, stony alpine meadows, high valleys and scree slopes, often in marshy areas or along streams, and in winter it uses similar places or farmland edges at lower altitude. It is resident and partly migratory, with high-altitude birds descending to the foothills after breeding. It feeds on the ground, often at the edge of melting snow, in flocks of up to 60 in summer and up to 1,000 outside the breeding season. It nests from June to August in a loose cup in a burrow, crevice or rodent hole, and the chicks fledge after 15–17 days. (Russian Wikipedia, general species account)