>Calcarius ornatus (Chestnut-collared Longspur)

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Chestnut-collared Longspur
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Calcarius
Species:	C. ornatus
Binomial name
Calcarius ornatus (Townsend, 1837)

The Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) is a small ground-feeding bird from the family Calcariidae which also contains the longspurs.

These birds have a short conical bill, a streaked back and a white tail with a dark tip. In breeding plumage, the male has black underparts, a chestnut nape, a yellow throat and a black crown. Other birds have light brown underparts, a dark crown, brown wings and may have some chestnut on the nape.

This bird breeds in short and mixed grass prairies in central Canada and the north central United States. The female lays 4 or 5 eggs in a grass cup nest in a shallow scrape on the ground. The male sings and flies up to defend his territory. Both parents feed the young birds.

In winter, they migrate in flocks to prairies and open fields in the southern United States and Mexico.

These birds forage on the ground, gathering in flocks in winter. They mainly eat seeds, also eating insects in summer. Young birds are mainly fed insects.

The call is a two-syllabled chee dee.

Conservation

Like other prairie birds, they have disappeared from some areas due to habitat loss but are still fairly common.

Controlled burns may benefit this species as they feed on low-growing plants that are more easily spotted after a fire.

>Calcarius pictus (Smith's Longspur)

Smith's Longspur

Smith's Longspur
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Calcarius
Species:	C. pictus
Binomial name
Calcarius pictus (Swainson, 1832)

The Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) is a small ground-feeding bird from the family Calcariidae, which also contains the longspurs.

These birds have short cone-shaped bills, streaked backs, and dark tails with white outer retrices. In breeding state plumage (mostly formed by worn basic plumage), the male has pumpkin orange throat, nape, and underparts contrasting with an intricate black-and-white face pattern. The white lesser coverts are quite pronounced on a male in spring and early summer. Females and immatures have lightly streaked buffy underparts, dark crowns, brown wings with less obvious white lesser coverts, and a light-colored face. The tail is identical at all ages.

This bird breeds in open grassy areas near the tree line in northern Canada and Alaska. The female lays 3 to 5 eggs in a grass cup nest on the ground. These birds nest in small colonies; males do not defend territory. Both males and females may have more than one mate. The parents, one female and possibly more than one male, feed the young birds.

In winter, they congregate in open fields, including airports, in the south-central United States.

Migration is elliptical, with northbound birds staging in Illinois in the spring and southbound birds flying over the Great Plains in the fall.

These birds forage on the ground, gathering in flocks outside of the nesting season. They mainly eat seeds, also eating insects in summer. Young birds are mainly fed insects.

The song is a sweet warble that's inflected at the end, somewhat reminiscent of Chestnut-sided Warbler. The call is a dry rattle, like a shorterned version of the call of a femal Brown-headed Cowbird. It is noticeably drier than that of Lapland Longspur.

Audubon named this bird after his friend Gideon B. Smith.

>Calcarius lapponicus (Lapland Longspur)

Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspur
Breeding male
Female
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Calcarius
Species:	C. lapponicus
Binomial name
Calcarius lapponicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus), also known as the Lapland Bunting, is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae, a group separated by most modern authors from the Fringillidae (Old World finches).

Distribution and habitat

It breeds across Arctic Europe and Asia and in Canada and the northernmost USA. It is migratory, wintering in the Russian steppes, the southern USA, Northern Scandinavian arctic areas and down to coastal Southern Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain. This is the only Eurasian species of the longspur buntings, and while it probably did not evolve there, it has been present in Eastern Europe for at least about 30,000 years.

Description

The Lapland Longspur is a robust bird, with a thick yellow seed-eater's bill. The summer male has a black head and throat, white eyestripe, chestnut nape, white underparts, and a heavily streaked black-grey back. Other plumages have a plainer orange-brown head, a browner back and chestnut nape and wing panels.

Behaviour

The most common flight call is a hard "prrrrt" usually preceded by a more nasal "teeww". When breeding, it also makes a softer "duyyeee" followed by a pause and a "triiiuuu"; both sounds alternate.

It breeds in wet areas with birch or willow, and or bare mountains, and winters on cultivated land or coasts. The bird is often seen close to the tree line, and likes to feed in mixed-species flocks in winter. Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds. The nest is on the ground. 2-4 eggs are laid.

Food Habits

The food habits of the Lapland Longspur are quite simple: mostly seeds in winter and arthropods in the summer, when they are in activity.

During the winter, the longspur feeds on seeds. They pick them on the ground, rarely feeding directly on plants. They will forage around the same area for a period varying between a few minutes and an hour, then fly away looking for a new foraging area. Their seed diet is composed mainly of seeds from grass, foxtail, cultivated millet, crabgrass and wheat.During the breeding season, the birds migrate to the north, where their diet switches to arthropods. Nestlings are only fed arthropods, which also constitute the diet of the parents at that time of the year (June to July). The birds often catch insects in mid-air, but does forage through vegetation when climatic conditions prevent the insects from flying. Longspurs can consume between 3000 and 10000 prey items (insects or seeds) per day, depending on their energy needs. Dipteran larvae and adults form the major part of their insectivorous diet

>>Genus Calcarius (Longspur)

Longspur

Longspurs
Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Calcarius Bechstein, 1802
Species
See text.

The Longspurs, genus Calcarius, are a group of birds in the family Calcariidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot. The genus formerly included the McCown's Longspur, Rhyncophanes mccownii, which is now placed in a separate genus.

These are chunky ground-feeding birds with long wings which are usually seen in open areas. Males declare ownership of a territory by singing during short flights over it. The male's breeding plumage is much brighter than his winter plumage. These birds gather in large flocks in winter. The longspurs are all found in North America; the Lapland Longspur, orLapland Bunting, is also found in Europe and Asia.

The full list of species is:

• Lapland Longspur, or Lapland Bunting, Calcarius lapponicus
• Smith's Longspur, Calcarius pictus
• Chestnut-collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus