English: Pine Grosbeak          
Russian: Щур      
Mongolian: Нарсны шүршүү
German: Hakengimpel     
French: Durbec des sapins              
Japanese: ギンザンマシコ (Ginzan-mashiko)

Body length:19-22 cm.

Breeds in taiga, usually in mature, undisturbed coniferous forest with some birch and berry-bearing shrubs. Probably mainly resident, but in some autumns mass southward eruptions occur (usually and Oct and in Nov). Unobtrusive and retiring during breeding, but in winter quite fearless (old Swedish colloquial name ‘silly fool’), and flocks may then readily feed on rowan berries in gardens and roadside trees in town centres. Food seeds, buds and shoots of e.g. spruce and birch, also berries of rowan, bilberry, cowberry etc. In dense forest sometimes forages quietly down in shrub layer. Nests in tree against trunk, usually of spruce.

Identification: Thrush-sized, hefty body and thickset, neckless silhouette; long-tailed. Bill short and deep with curved culmen. In all plumages, double white wing-bar (greater and median coverts have white tips and narrow white outer edges) and white outer edges to tertials contrasting with otherwise greyish-black wings. Flight powerful and fast, in deep undulations.

• Adult ♂: Greater part of plumage raspberry-red (with touch of light grey); mantle /back and uppertail-coverts spotted dark.
  
• ♀/1st -year ♂: Red colour of adult ♂ replaced by greyish yellow-orange.