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Twite
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Linaria
Species:	L. flavirostris
Binomial name
	Linaria flavirostris; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
	See text
	Range of L. flavirostris Breeding Resident Non-breeding
Synonyms
	Fringilla flavirostris Linnaeus, 1758; Carduelis flavirostris (Linnaeus, 1758); Acanthis flavirostris (Linnaeus, 1758);

The twite (Linaria flavirostris) is a small brown passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is a partially migratory species that is found in northern Europe and across the Palearctic to China. 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 his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flavirostris.^[2]^[3] The twite and the closely related linnets were at one time placed in the genus Carduelis but were moved to the resurrected genus Linaria based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that was published in 2012. The genus had originally been introduced in 1802 by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein.^[4]^[5] The genus name linaria is the Latin for a linen-weaver, from linum, "flax". The specific epithet flavirostris means "yellow-billed".^[6]

Nine subspecies are recognised:^[4]

L. f. pipilans (Latham, 1787) – north Ireland and north Britain (includes bensonorum)
L. f. flavirostris (Linnaeus, 1758) – north Scandinavia and northwest Russia
L. f. brevirostris (Bonaparte, 1855) – Turkey, the Caucasus and north Iran
L. f. kirghizorum (Sushkin, 1925) – north, central Kazakhstan
L. f. korejevi (Zarudny & Härms, 1914) – northeast Kazakhstan to northwest China
L. f. altaica (Sushkin, 1925) – southwest Siberia and north, west Mongolia
L. f. montanella (Hume, 1873) – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, north Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan to northwest China (includes 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

The twite is similar in size and shape to a linnet, at 13 to 13.5 cm (5.1 to 5.3 in) long. It lacks the red head patch and breast shown by the linnet and the redpolls. It is brown streaked with black above, and a pink rump. The underparts are buff to whitish, streaked with brown. The conical bill is yellow in winter and grey in summer.^[7] The call is a distinctive twit, from which its name derives,^[8] and the song contains fast trills and twitters.^[9] Twites can form large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches on coasts and salt marshes. They feed mainly on seeds.^[7]

Distribution and habitat

The twite breeds in northern Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia and China. Treeless moorland is favoured for breeding. It is partially resident and in winter many birds migrate further south, or move to the coasts.^[10] It has declined sharply in parts of its range, notably in Ireland.^[11]

Behaviour

Breeding

The female builds a nest either on the ground or low down in a bush, laying 3–6 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 17.4 mm × 13.2 mm (0.69 in × 0.52 in). They are incubated by the female for 12–13 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.^[12]

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.^[13]

References

^ BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Linaria flavirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22720438A111128447. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22720438A111128447.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jnr., ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 253.
^ Linnaeus, C. (1766). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1 (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 182.
^ ^a ^b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Finches, euphonias". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 161, 227. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ ^a ^b Collar, N.J.; Newton, I.; Clement, P. (2010). "Family Fringillidae (Finches)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 15: Weavers to New World Warblers. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 440–617 [566-567]. ISBN 978-84-96553-68-2.
^ "Twite". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, pp. 246–247
^ Newton 1973
^ BirdWatch.Ireland. "Irish Twite danger". BirdLife Europe. BirdLife International. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
^ Cramp 1994, pp. 636–637.
^ Dunning, J.; Finch, T.; Davison, A.; Durrant, K.L. (2020). "Population‐specific migratory strategies of Twite Linaria flavirostris in Western Europe". Ibis. 162 (2): 273–278. doi:10.1111/ibi.12791.

Works cited

Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John (1993). Finches and Sparrows: An Identification Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03424-9.
Cramp, Stanley; et al., eds. (1994). "Carduelis flavirostris Twite". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. VIII: Crows to Finches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 625–639. ISBN 978-0-19-854679-5.
Newton, Ian (1973). Finches. The New Naturalist Library 55. New York: Taplinger. ISBN 0-8008-2720-1.