>Plectrophenax hyperboreus (McKay's Bunting)

McKay's Bunting

McKay's Bunting
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Plectrophenax
Species:	P. hyperboreus
Binomial name
Plectrophenax hyperboreus Ridgway, 1884

McKay's Bunting (Plectrophenax hyperboreus) is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is most closely related to the Snow Bunting (P. nivalis). Hybrids between the two species have been observed, leading some authorities to treat McKay's as a subspecies of Snow Bunting. As the Plectrophenax buntings are nested within the Calcarius clade, their closest relatives are the longspurs. McKay's Bunting breeds on two islands in the Bering Sea, St. Matthew and Hall islands, and winters on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska.

Description

This species closely resembles Snow Bunting in all plumages, but is whiter overall. The breeding plumage of the male is almost purely white, with only small areas of black on the wingtips and tail. The breeding female has a streaked back. Non-breeding birds also have warm brown patches on cheeks, crown, and the sides of the neck.McKay's Bunting is larger on average than the Snow Bunting. It is 18 cm (7.1 in) long and weighs from 38 to 62 g (1.3 to 2.2 oz), with an average of 54.5 g (1.92 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 10.1 to 12.2 cm (4.0 to 4.8 in), the tail is 6.4 to 7.5 cm (2.5 to 3.0 in), the bill is 1.1 to 1.3 cm (0.43 to 0.51 in) and the tarsus is 2 to 2.4 cm (0.79 to 0.94 in).

Ecology

This bunting nests on shingle beaches in hollow drift logs and rock crevices. Winters on coastal marshes, shingle beaches, and agricultural fields. Feeding habits are thought to be similar to Snow Bunting, which in winter 

Status

The population of this species is estimated at less than 6,000 individuals. Although under no immediate threat, it is susceptible to devastation by any introduced rats, weasels or foxes, as well as rising sea levels due to climate change.

The name of this bird honours the American naturalist Charles McKay.

>Plectrophenax nivalis (Snow Bunting)

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting
Male in breeding plumage, Alaska
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Plectrophenax
Species:	P. nivalis
Binomial name
Plectrophenax nivalis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Passerina nivalis

The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is an arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few high mountain tops south of the Arctic region, including the Cairngorms in central Scotland and the Saint Elias Mountains on the southern Alaska-Yukon border, and also Cape Breton Highlands.

Characteristics

It is fairly large and long-winged for a bunting, 15–18 cm long and with a wingspan of 32–38 cm, and weighing 26–50 g. In flight, it is easily identified by its large white wing patches. The breeding male is unmistakable, with all white plumage and a black back; the breeding female is grey-black where the male is solid black. In winter plumage, both sexes are mottled pale ginger, blackish and white above, and pale ginger and white below, with the males having more white than the females. The bill is yellow with a black tip, all black in summer males. Unlike most passerines, it has feathered tarsi, an adaptation to its harsh environment. No other passerine can winter as far north as this species apart from the Common Raven.

The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".

It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.

There are four subspecies, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:

• Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. Arctic Europe, Arctic North America. Head white, rump mostly black with a small area of white.
• Plectrophenax nivalis insulae. Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland. Head white with a blackish collar, rump black.
• Plectrophenax nivalis vlasowae. Arctic Asia. Head white, rump mostly white.
• Plectrophenax nivalis townsendi. Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, coastal far eastern Siberia. As vlasowae, but slightly larger.

It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors,though they are generally treated as separate species.

The species is not endangered at present, with good populations.It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.

The breeding habitat is on tundra, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe.

Gallery

• 

  Adult breeding maleinsulae, Iceland
 
• 

  Adult winter male, England
 
• 

  Adult breeding male, Scotland
 
• 

  P. n. nivalis, in spring
 
• 

  Adult in winter plumage, Germany

>>Genus Plectrophenax

Plectrophenax

Plectrophenax
Snow Bunting
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Plectrophenax Stejneger, 1882
Species
P. nivalis P. hyperboreus

Plectrophenax is a small genus of passerine birds of the longspur family Calcariidae.

It has two members, which may be conspecific.

• Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis
• McKay's Bunting, Plectrophenax hyperboreus

They are high arctic breeding seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and much white in the plumage, especially in adult males. They nest in rock crevices. As would be expected, both species are highly migratory, wintering in more temperate areas.

The plumages are similar, but McKay’s has more white and less black in the plumage, especially in the wings and tail. Adult breeding males of both species are mainly white with contrasting black on at least the wings, but are duller in winter. Females have white and brown plumage. The calls of both species are identical and include a low warbled hudidi feet feet feew hudidi feet feet feew hudidi.