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Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspur

Calcarius lapponicus

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The Lapland Longspur, or Lapland Bunting, is a hardy, circumpolar Arctic songbird. Breeding males are striking with a black face and throat, a bold white stripe and a chestnut nape; at other times birds are browner and streaked. It nests on the ground on tundra and treeless fell slopes and migrates to open country across Eurasia and North America for the winter, often forming large flocks on fields and shores.

Did you know?

  • Its English name refers to the elongated hind claw – its “long spur”.
  • A hybrid between Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting has been documented in Canada.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

A smallish bunting. The male in breeding plumage is strongly contrasting, dark-headed with a rufous nape; females and winter birds are grey-brown and heavily streaked, with a warm rufous panel on the wing and nape. Calls include a clear “tyu” and a hard, dry rattle; the song is a short, bright phrase. The long hind claw gives it its name.

Family

Emberizidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, black, white, orange, yellow

About the habitat

Breeds on Arctic tundra and treeless fells with dwarf shrubs, sedges, moss and bogs. On migration and in winter coastal flats, shores, stubble fields, pastures and steppe.

Diet

In winter mainly seeds of grasses and weeds and spilled grain; in summer insects, especially flies and their larvae, which are fed to the nestlings.

Behaviour

A ground forager that walks or runs to pick up seeds and insects. In spring males perform fluttering song flights over the tundra, singing a short, bright phrase. The cup nest is hidden among tussocks in low, wet vegetation. The flight call is a hard, rattling “prrrt”, often preceded by a clear “tew”. In winter it often joins mixed flocks with Snow Buntings and Horned Larks.

Sources

Photo: Ómar Runólfsson, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lapland Longspur - Calcarius lapponicus - Sportittlingur 1.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC776799, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/776799

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland_longspur

See also