 It breeds in the western Altai Mountains, including the Belaya Uba valley, and the Sayan Mountains (eastern Altai) of western Mongolia; in the southern Altai it breeds in the upper reaches of the Bukhtarma River, around Lake Markakol, and in the Kara-Kaba valley (where it intergrades with the nominate subspecies).On post-breeding dispersal and in winter, it occurs mainly in the foothills and plains of eastern Kazakhstan, sometimes as far west as Semipalatinsk, Kurgaldzhino Reserve and Astana, Almaty, the Chu-Iliyskiye Mountains and at Kyzylorda in the Syr Darya valley.The Baikal bullfinch inhabits fir forests with some deciduous trees, fir-larch and spruce-birch forest in river valleys and lake shores at altitudes of 1,400–1,800 m. On dispersal, the Baikal bullfinches visit deciduous forests with a shrubby understorey, riparian forests and thickets of tall weeds.