Editing Twite

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{for|people named Twite|Twite (surname)}}
{{Speciesbox
| name              = Twite
| image             = Twite (Linaria flavirostris), Zinc Road, Teesside (53540824279).jpg
| image_caption     = ''L. f. pipilans'', Hartlepool, England
| status            = LC
| status_system     = IUCN3.1
| status_ref        = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2017 |title=''Linaria flavirostris'' |amends=2016 |page=e.T22720438A111128447 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22720438A111128447.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus             = Linaria (bird)
| species           = flavirostris
| authority         = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms          = *''Fringilla flavirostris'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
*''Carduelis flavirostris'' {{small|(Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758)}}
*''Acanthis flavirostris'' {{small|(Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758)}}
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision       = See text
| range_map         = LinariaFlavirostrisIUCNver2018 2.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''L. flavirostris''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding summer visitor|outline=grey}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Breeding resident|outline=grey}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=grey}}
}}

The '''twite''' ('''''Linaria flavirostris''''') is a small brown [[passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[finch]] [[family (biology)|family]] [[Fringillidae]]. It is a partially migratory species that is found in a strongly [[disjunct distribution]] in northern Europe, and in Asian mountains from eastern Turkey to Nepal, western China and Mongolia. It mainly feeds on small seeds but occasionally also feeds on insects.

==Taxonomy==
In 1758 the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] included the twite in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Fringilla flavirostris''.<ref name=checklist>{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jnr. | year=1968 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=14 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=253 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481454}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first= C. | author-link= Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title= Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1| volume= 1 | edition=10th | page=182 | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii | language = la | url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727089}}</ref> The twite and the closely related [[linnet]]s were at one time placed in the genus ''[[Carduelis]]'' but were moved to the resurrected genus ''[[Linaria (bird)|Linaria]]'' based on a [[phylogenetic]] analysis of [[mitochondrial]] and nuclear DNA sequences that was published in 2012.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Zuccon | first1=Dario | last2=Prŷs-Jones | first2=Robert | last3=Rasmussen | first3=Pamela C. | last4=Ericson | first4=Per G.P. | year=2012 | title=The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=62 | issue=2 | pages=581–596 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002 | url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.9ff3752132fdaeccb6800010935/Zuccon%20et%20al%202012.pdf | pmid=22023825}}</ref> The genus had originally been described in 1802 by the German naturalist [[Johann Matthäus Bechstein]].<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Finches, euphonias | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/finches/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> The genus name ''linaria'' is the [[Latin]] for a linen-weaver, from ''linum'', "[[flax]]". The specific epithet ''flavirostris'' means "yellow-billed".<ref name =job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n161 161], [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n227 227] }}</ref>

Nine [[subspecies]] are recognised:<ref name=ioc/>
* ''L. f. pipilans'' ([[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1787) – north Ireland and north Britain ([[synonym (biology)|syn.]] ''L. f. bensonorum'')
* ''L. f. flavirostris'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) – north Scandinavia and northwest Russia
* ''L. f. brevirostris'' ([[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1855) – Turkey, the [[Caucasus]] and north Iran
* ''L. f. kirghizorum'' ([[Petr Sushkin|Sushkin]], 1925) – north, central [[Kazakhstan]]
* ''L. f. korejevi'' ([[Nikolai Alekseyvich Zarudny|Zarudny]] & Härms, 1914) – northeast [[Kazakhstan]] to northwest China
* ''L. f. altaica'' (Sushkin, 1925) – southwest Siberia and north, west Mongolia
* ''L. f. montanella'' ([[Allan Octavian Hume|Hume]], 1873) – [[Kyrgyzstan]], Tajikistan, north Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan to northwest China (syn. ''L. f. pamirensis'')
* ''L. f. miniakensis'' (Jacobi, A, 1923) – east Tibet and west China
* ''L. f. rufostrigata'' (Walton, 1905) – west, south Tibet, north India and north Nepal

==Description==
[[File:Twite (Carduelis flavirostris) (49029781732).jpg|left|thumb|The pale subspecies ''L. f. montanella'' in northern Pakistan]]
The twite is similar in size and shape to a [[linnet]], at {{convert|13|to|13.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. It lacks the red head patch and breast shown by the linnet and the [[redpoll]]s. It is brown streaked with black above; adult males also have a pink rump, immatures and females a brown rump. The underparts are buff to whitish, streaked with brown. The conical bill is yellow in winter and grey in summer.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last1=Collar | first1=N.J. | last2=Newton | first2=I. | last3=Clement | first3=P. | year=2010 | chapter=Family Fringillidae (Finches) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Christie | editor3-first=D.A. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=15: Weavers to New World Warblers | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-96553-68-2| pages=440–617 [566-567] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0015unse/page/566/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref> The call is a very distinctive nasal ''twaa-it'', from which its name derives,<ref name="Hume">{{cite book | last=Hume | first=Rob | last2=Still | first2=Robert | last3=Swash | first3=Andy | last4=Harrop | first4=Hugh | last5=Tipling | first5=David | title=Britain's Birds | publisher=Princeton University Press | publication-place=Princeton, New Jersey | date=2016-09-06 | isbn=978-0-691-15889-1 | oclc=919479526 | page=}}</ref> and the song contains fast trills and twitters.<ref>{{harvnb|Clement|Harris|Davis|1993|pages= 246–247}}</ref> Twite often form large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches on coasts and salt marshes. They feed mainly on seeds.<ref name=hbw/>

The subspecies vary in plumage tone, with ''L. f. pipilans'' of the hyper-humid [[oceanic climate]] of Britain and Ireland the darkest (following [[Gloger's rule]]) and nominate ''L. f. flavirostris'' in Scandinavia the next darkest. The Asian subspecies, found in much drier mountain habitats, are much paler.<ref name="Svensson">{{cite book | last=Svensson | first=Lars | title=Identification guide to European passerines | publisher=L. Svensson | publication-place=Stockholm | date=1992 | isbn=91-630-1118-2 | pages=297–298}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
The twite breeds in northern [[Europe]] and across the [[Palearctic]] to Siberia and China. Alpine grassland and low shrubland is favoured for breeding; in the Asian part of its range, it breeds at high to very high altitudes, from 3,600–4,900 m,<ref name="Kazmierczak">{{cite book | last1=Kazmierczak | first1=Krys | last2=Perlo | first2=Ber van | title=A field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent | publisher=Yale University Press | publication-place=New Haven | date=2000 | isbn=0-300-07921-4 | page=300}}</ref><ref name=hbw/> but in the much cooler oceanic climate summers of northwestern Europe, it breeds much lower, and down to sea level in northwestern [[Ireland]], western and northern [[Scotland]], and [[Norway]]; here it is strongly associated with traditional low-intensity farming on coastal [[machair]] grassland.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Wilkinson | first=Nicholas I. | last2=Wilson | first2=Jeremy D. | title=Breeding ecology of Twite Carduelis flavirostris in a crofting landscape | journal=Bird Study | volume=57 | issue=2 | date=2010-05-01 | issn=0006-3657 | doi=10.1080/00063650903449938 | doi-access=free | pages=142–155 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00063650903449938?needAccess=true | access-date=2025-03-14}}</ref>

It is partially resident and in winter many birds [[bird migration|migrate]] further south, or move to the coasts.<ref>{{harvnb|Newton|1973}}</ref> It has declined sharply in parts of its range, notably in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/irish-twite-danger|title=Irish Twite danger|author=BirdWatch.Ireland|publisher=BirdLife International|access-date=12 August 2014|work=BirdLife Europe}}</ref>

==Behaviour==
===Breeding===
[[File:Linaria flavirostris MHNT 223 Ecosse.jpg|thumb|Twite eggs]]
The female builds a [[bird nest|nest]] either on the ground or low down in a bush, laying 3–6&nbsp;eggs. The eggs are light or dark blue in colour with variable dark purplish-brown specs or blotches which are mainly concentrated around the broad end. They are laid daily and measure {{cvt|17.4|x|13.2|mm}}. They are incubated by the female for 12–13&nbsp;days. The young are fed and cared for by both parents and fledge when aged 11 to 12 days. They continue to be fed for a further two weeks after leaving the nest.{{sfn|Cramp|1994|pp=636-637}}

In the UK, the twite is the subject of several research projects in the Pennines, the Scottish Highlands and on the North Wales and Lancashire coastlines. Records show that the birds to the east of the Pennine hills move to the southeast coast in winter and those to the west winter between Lancashire and the Hebrides. The Welsh population winters almost exclusively in Flintshire. Ringing data has revealed that twite breeding in different parts of Britain use different non‐breeding areas, and that non-breeding areas of British twite do not overlap with non-breeding areas of continental twite.<ref>{{cite journal | author1= Dunning, J. |author2= Finch, T. | author3= Davison, A. | author4 = Durrant, K.L. | year=2020 | title=  Population‐specific migratory strategies of Twite ''Linaria flavirostris'' in Western Europe | journal=Ibis| volume=162| pages = 273–278 | doi= 10.1111/ibi.12791 | issue=2| doi-access=  }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Clement|first1=Peter|last2=Harris|first2=Alan|last3=Davis|first3=John|title = Finches and Sparrows: An Identification Guide|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1993|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=0-691-03424-9}}
*{{ cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | display-editors=etal | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1994 | chapter=''Carduelis flavirostris'' Twite | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic | volume=VIII: Crows to Finches | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | pages=625-639 | isbn=978-0-19-854679-5 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Newton|first=Ian|title=Finches|series=The New Naturalist Library 55|publisher=Taplinger|year=1973|location=New York|isbn=0-8008-2720-1}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Linaria flavirostris}}
*[http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/twite.html Oiseaux] Photos
*[http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Linaria-flavirostris Audio recordings from Xeno-canto]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q10965357}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Birds of Eurasia]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds of Norway]]
[[Category:Linaria (bird)]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]