Taxonomy
The Gray-crowned Rosy Finch was first classified by English ornithologist William John Swainson in 1832. This bird has been thought to form a superspecies with three other Rosy Finches (also known as mountain finch): Black Rosy Finch (L. atrata) and the Brown-capped Rosy Finch (L. australis), all of which were classified as the same species as the Asian Rosy Finch (L. arctoa) from 1983-1993. Recent mitochondrial DNA evidence shows the rosy finches are all indeed very closely related and can be easily confused with one another. Along with four Asian rosy finches, the three North American rosy finches form the mountain finch genus Leucosticte. Alternate common names include: Roselin à tête grise (in French), Schwarzstirn-Schneegimpel (in German), and Pinzón Montano Nuquigrí (in Spanish).
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