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Abundant resident or short-distance migrant. Inhabits the spruce light forests and juniper forests with bushes and grass vegetation at altitudes 1500-1800 m in Talas Alatau and 3000-3200 m in Zailiyskiy Alatau. On dispersal and wintering occurs in low forestless mountains, in bushy foothills and adjacent plains, shelterbelts, gardens and thickets of tall weeds. In breeding sites appears in mid – end March (last birds disappears in foothills in mid-March). Breeds in separate pairs, quite a far one from another. Nest is located in spruce or juniper at height 1.7-19 m above the ground; nest is built from the dry grass and honeysuckle bast and is lined with plenty of fluff and hair. Mainly female builds the nest, but sometimes also male brings and lay the grass. Clutch of 3-5 eggs is laid from May to mid-July. Only female incubates clutch for 11-12 days, male feed her. Both parents feed nestlings which fledge at age 15-16 days old, in mid-June to first ten days of August; parents continue to feed juveniles during about two weeks after its departure from the nest. Re-nesting after loss of first clutch is common; probably some pairs rear two broods per season. Flocks begin to disperse at first in breeding sites, and in October – November descend to foothills and adjacent planes.

References

"Птицы Казахстана" том 5. "Наука". Алма-Ата, 1974. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005.