Scarlet Finch
Carpodacus sipahi
血雀
Introduction
A small passerine in the finch family Fringillidae. Inhabits temperate forests across an east-west distribution from Uttarakhand through Nepal and into the hills of Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Resident throughout most of its range, with short-distance movements; many populations descend to lower elevations immediately south of the Himalayas during winter. The species was recently reclassified from the monotypic genus Haematospiza to the rosefinch genus Carpodacus based on molecular studies.
Distribution & Habitat
This species occupies a broad distribution along the Himalayan range, extending from Uttarakhand in the western Indian Himalayas eastward across Nepal to the adjacent hills of Northeast India and further into Southeast Asia as far south as Thailand. Its natural habitat consists of temperate forests, where it remains resident throughout the year across most of its range. However, like many Himalayan birds, it exhibits seasonal movement, with many individuals wintering in areas immediately south of the main Himalayan ridge. This pattern of altitudinal migration brings birds to lower elevations during the harsher winter months, though they typically return to higher forested areas for the breeding season.
Culture
The species name 'sipahi' derives from the Hindustani word 'sipāhi,' meaning soldier, which itself gave rise to the Anglicized term 'sepoy.' This naming reference connects directly to the striking red plumage of the male, which reminded early observers of the red uniforms worn by Indian soldiers in the service of the East India Company during the British colonial period. The species was described by British naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1836, initially under the binomial name Corythus sipahi, reflecting the historical context of colonial-era natural history documentation in South Asia.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Carpodacus
- eBird Code
- scafin1
Distribution
Himalayas (Nepal to southwestern China, Myanmar, northern Laos, and northern Vietnam)
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.