White-winged Snowfinches of the Furka Pass

I have long been fascinated with snowfinches. During the past 20 years I must have spent a month of each year in the French Alps where the White-winged Snowfinch was a regular, albeit elusive resident. In the winter I encountered them regularly as a brief flyover above 2000m but occasionally, like a sparrows in a low land cafe, feeding amongst the skiers in their mountain equivalent. In the summer I have watched them on their breeding grounds at 2500m on the Tete de Pelouse where they nest on steep inaccessible rock slopes.

White-winged Snowfinch - male

Some years ago I heard of snowfinches breeding on the Furka Pass in Switzerland where nest boxes have been installed on a group of a dozen old military buildings. This sounded perfect to me, you can drive up to the pass, so no 5 hour slog up a steep alpine mountain to get near to them, and they are using nest boxes in buildings, so they are concentrated in a small geographical area.

Sunrise at the Furka Pass

I finally visited the Pass in late June this year and wasn't disappointed. I was concerned, as the date of the visit drew near, that the Pass would be shrouded in cloud or that late snow would make movement around the area difficult but in the end conditions were perfect with clear blue skies and enough snow to proveide feeding areas for the snowfinch but not enough to cause me problems moving around.

Nest boxes for White-winged Snowfinch

I think it was around 2012 when the first nest boxes were installed and there are now around 30, although not all are occupied each year, plus it appears that the snowfinches are also nesting in the buildings and old hotel across the road. I think there were perhaps 7 or 8 pairs feeding young during my visit but there could have been more than that.
The adult males perched on the top of the buildings singing and occasionally giving a brief display flight.

White-winged Snowfinch in display flight

 Both parents were seen collecting food from the edge of the remaining snow fields.

Male White-winged Snowfinch with food for its offspring and duller female below

Outside of the breeding season seeds from alpine plants are their main food source , their main food during the breeding season are thought to be arthropods (larvae, lepidoptera, arachnida etc.), which they collect from the ground. The main component of the nestling food is larvae from crane fly (Tipulidae), because they are especially nutritious. The Tipulidae larvae live in the cavern between the snow blanket and the ground. In the evening they freeze in the melt water and are released when the snow melts the following day. That’s why there are many Tipulidae larvae at the edge of snow patches, which are easily accessible for the snowfinches and thus they are often to be seen feeding in this habitat.

Female White-winged Snowfinch bearing metal ring

The nest boxes have been installed to enable long term study of the species and many of the birds carry metal rings and some have coloured or numbered 'Darvic' type rings. 
This must be one of the best places in the world to see this enigmatic species and it was an amazing experience to witness the sunrise over the mountains with the snowfinches singing from the roof tops.