Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Brown-capped Rosy Finch
Scientific name:	Leucosticte australis
Date:	23 November 2001
Time:	4:48-5:05PM
Length of time observed:	17 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	unkn
Sex:	winter plumage male
Location:	Spring creek Road, south of Monticello, UT airport. About 0.6 miles up this road UTM coordinates are as follows N4198803 E644620
County:	San Juan
Latilong:	UTM N4198803 E644620
Elevation:	7000 feet
Distance to bird:	10-50 yards
Optical equipment:	Leupod spotter 12x40x60mm and 10x50 leupold wind river binoculars
Weather:	It had snowed that day. At the time of the observation it was cloudy and cool 30-40 degrees F.
Light Conditions:	cloudy and 10-15mph wind from the south
Detailed description of bird:	definite brown cap on the head, no gray. The red on the breast was difficult to determine with light conditions, but I could see there was a slight tint of red-brown on the breast. It was a lone bird with a group of Oregon Dark-eyed juncos. I watched it feed on and in several different patches of sunflowers near the road.
Song or call & method of delivery:	none was heard
Behavior:	Feeding
Habitat:	fields adjacent to oak and juniper patches
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Black and gray capped rosy finch. There were no black or gray caps at all on this bird. Both sexes of these species exhibit some gray even in winter phases. Also a definite brown cap was observed on this bird.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I have observed gray and black capped rosy finch on many different occasions, but never a brown capped.
References consulted:	[I think it has "references" on the submission form -- he may have taken it a different way] Mark Stackhouse. I am an avid experienced birder with over 10 years of hard core birding. I conduct BBS routes and PIF routes throughout Utah every year.
Description from:	Notes taken at time of sighting
Observer:	Todd Black
Observer's address:	682 East 440 South Hyrum, UT
Observer's e-mail address:	cwms4u@netscape.net (Permission: General Public)
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	none
Date prepared:	06 December 01
Additional material: