Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Scientific name:	Leucosticte australis
Date:	4-7-18
Time:	13:30
Length of time observed:	2-5 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	probable adult
Sex:	probable female
Location:	Little Cottonwood Canyon -- Alta Town Office Feeders
County:	Salt Lake
Latilong:
Elevation:
Distance to bird:	15-20 meters
Optical equipment:	10x42 binoculars
Weather:	Steady rain, overcast with some overhead fog. Temperatures in the 40s.
Light Conditions:	Overcast so fairly dim compared to a sunny day, but generally good light at the time of this sighting.
Description: Size of bird:
(Description:) Basic Shape:
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	brown with some pink
(Description:) Bill Type:	all/mostly dark. Finch-like.
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Notes written immediately after sighting: No gray on head/crown, dark forecrown, pink primaries and flanks (not on belly), grayish-brown overall tone -- not rufous brown -- and notably duller and cooler-toned than all immediately adjacent Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, dark bill. Notes written after extensive online research: Obvious Rosy-Finch species. Age and sex unknown, but not an adult male -- pink not extensive enough and only present in primaries and on flanks, no pink on belly, but did not note presence/absence of pink on wing coverts but it was not obvious. Bird was either an adult female or an unknown juvenile.
Song or call & method of delivery:
Behavior:	Feeding on Alta Town Office feeder for entire length of observation. Initially observed on platform feeder where only top half of bird was visible (great views of the head and chest/back), but bird moved up to the feeder itself for ~30 seconds where full-views were obtained from very close range.
Habitat:	Montane
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Gray-crowned is the most similar species -- bird was obviously not Black Rosy-Finch, which was also present at the time of the sighting. Gray-crowned eliminated mainly by a combination of overall cooler-toned, duller brown plumage, and no gray on head/crown. Most gray-crowned/brown-capped confusion seems to originate with adult males, particularly those with gray on the crown, a characteristic this bird did not show. Bird was seen in direct comparison to multiple Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches within 1 foot of each other.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	One observer has seen Brown-capped Rosy-Finch 2 times in Colorado (CW), other observer has not seen Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (NP). Both observers have extensive experience with Gray-crowned and Black Rosy-Finches.
References consulted:	The Sibley Guide to Birds (second adult); eBird Macauley Library (https://ebird.org/media/catalog); https://cobirds.org/CFO/ColoradoBirds/InTheScope/29.pdf; Birds of North America Online account (Johnson, R. E., P. Hendricks, D. L. Pattie and K. B. Hunter. 2000. Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte australis), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.536).
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Neil Paprocki, Casey Weissburg
Observer's address:	Salt Lake City, Utah
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:
Date prepared:	4-7-18
Additional material:	No_additional_Materials
Additional comments:	Unfortunately neither of us had our cameras as it was very rainy on this day.