Occurs at much lower altitudes than the three other Crossoptilon species. It breeds in coniferous forest or mixed conifer-broadleaf forest at up to 2,600 m. In winter, it moves to lower altitudes (minimum 1,100 m), to scrub at the forest edge on south-facing slopes. During surveys in western Beijing, the species could not be found lower than 1,000 m (He Fenqi in litt. 2012).

Endemic to China. Once widely distributed in Shanxi, the east and centre of Shaanxi, and the west and north of Hebei, its current distribution is more or less confined to the Huanglongshan in Shaanxi, the Luliang Mountains in west Shanxi, the XiaoWutai Mountains in Hebei, and parts of the Baihua Mountains west of Beijing city (Li et al. 2016).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix I. It is a nationally-protected species in China. It has been the subject of ongoing research since the early 1980s. Four nature reserves (Luyashan, Pangquangou, Wulushan and Xiaowutai Shan) are crucial for the protection of this species and its habitats, and there is evidence that numbers have increased in Luyashan and Pangquangou since the reserves were established. In 2001, Huanglongshan Provincial Nature Reserve was established in Huanglong county (He Fenqi in litt. 2012). The tree-planting and forest management programmes since the 1980s are likely to have benefited this species in some other areas, as have captive breeding programmes, although these are of little use where population decline is the result of habitat loss and no subsequent habitat construction/repair has been made (BirdLife International 2001). 

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue to ensure recoveries in this species following reforestation efforts and safeguards from protected areas. Continue to monitor population trends.