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Alpine Accentors are small birds roughly the size of a sparrow or bunting. Their plumage is highly cryptic. Apart from thin white eye-rings and a brown tinge in the ear coverts, the head is leaden-grey, streaked with darker grey. Also the mantle, back and rump are grey with dark-grey streaks. Only the upperwing coverts also show some brown streaking. In flight dark panels are prominently visible, with each feather having a contrasting white tip. The throat is off-white, barred near-black, while the rest of the front is lightly vermiculated grey, with boldly streaked red-brown flanks. The tail is grey. The irises are brown. The short straight bill is dark grey, with an orange-yellow base of the lower mandible, while legs and feet are brown.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Alpine Accentor is available HERE .

There are 9 extant races of Alpine Accentors. They are a mostly sedentary but locally dispersive species that is found in primarily mountainous regions throughout mid-latitude areas of Eurasia. Their overall range extends from the Atlas mountain range in North-west Africa, most of southern Europe and parts of south-eastern Europe via south-western and eastern Asia Minor towards the Caucasus and other mid-latitude mountain ranges in Asia, from the southern shore of the Caspian Sea eastward around (but avoiding) the Mongolian desert into large parts of western China and southern Siberia. They are also found in parts of eastern China, down to the base of the Korean peninsula, far-eastern Siberia and northern Honshu, Japan. A separate race ("fennelli") resides in Taiwan. During the winter they can descend to lower altitudes, thereby locally extending their range.

In Europe, 3 races of Alpine Accentors are found. The range of nominate race "collaris" extends from Iberia, via the Pyrenees to southern France, northern Italy, the Alps to Slovenia and eastward into the Carpathians. They are also found on Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. Race "subalpina" resides in an area ranging from Croatia via the Balkans, Greece (including Crete) to the West coast of the Black Sea. Race "montana" is found throughout the Caucasus, including its northern (European) slopes.

Alpine Accentors have a preference for barren rocky habitats with sparse, low vegetation.

Race "collaris"