Bird Guide
Guide to North American Birds
Explore more than 800 North American bird species, learn about their lives and habitats, and how climate change is impacting their ability to survive.
6 birds
Snow Bunting
Plectrophenax nivalis
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
They sometimes have been called 'Snowflakes,' and flocks of Snow Buntings may seem like snowflakes as they swirl through the air and then settle on winter fields. South of the Arctic these are strictly winter birds, arriving in late fall, generally departing at the first signs of spring. In summer they retire to barren northern tundra, with some breeding on the northernmost islands of Canada and the mountains of Greenland. In some high Arctic communities, Snow Buntings nest in birdhouses put out for them.
Conservation Status
Low Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Saltwater Wetlands, Tundra and Boreal Habitats
Lapland Longspur
Calcarius lapponicus
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
Found throughout the Arctic zones of Europe, Asia, and North America in summer, this is one of the most abundant breeding birds of the far North. Birders who visit the tundra in summer will find Lapland Longspurs very common almost everywhere there, the bright males singing their short warbling songs from hummocks or rocks or while flying. In winter the birds come south in flocks, to forage in windswept fields. Although they range widely across the continent, the vast majority winter on the Great Plains, where flocks in the thousands seem to reflect the abundance of the species on its northern nesting grounds.
Conservation Status
Low Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Saltwater Wetlands, Tundra and Boreal Habitats
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Calcarius ornatus
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
Male Chestnut-collared Longspurs can be found in summer singing their flight-songs over the northern prairies. In winter, flocks invade the grasslands of the Southwest. They can be hard to see well on the ground, flushing when a birder approaches, to swirl away over the fields with soft musical callnotes; they are more easily observed when they come to drink at ponds.
Conservation Status
Vulnerable
Habitat
Desert and Arid Habitats, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands
Thick-billed Longspur
Rhynchophanes mccownii
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
An uncommon bird of the high plains, nesting on shortgrass prairies and wintering in dry fields of the Southwest. Thick-billed Longspurs are most conspicuous in summer, when the males perform flight-song displays, singing as they parachute down with their white tail feathers spread wide. In winter they are often in forbiddingly barren areas, such as plowed fields or dry lake beds, where there are few other birds except for flocks of hardy Horned Larks. Like other longspurs, however, they are attracted to water, and swirling flocks often descend on the margins of ponds. Formerly called McCown's Longspur.
Conservation Status
Low Concern
Habitat
Desert and Arid Habitats, Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands
Smith's Longspur
Calcarius pictus
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
Rather uncommon and mysterious birds, Smith's Longspurs nest in the Arctic, in a narrow zone where the last stunted trees give way to open tundra. They spend the winter on the southern Great Plains. On the wintering grounds, the birds live in flocks in open fields of short grass, where they are difficult to see well; if a birder gets too close, the longspurs take wing with dry rattling calls, to circle over the prairie before alighting again some distance away.
Conservation Status
Low Concern
Habitat
Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Tundra and Boreal Habitats
McKay's Bunting
Plectrophenax hyperboreus
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
At a Glance
Few birders ever get to see this whitest of North American songbirds on its main nesting grounds, remote St. Matthew and Hall Islands in the Bering Sea. During many summers, however, a few McKay's Buntings appear on St. Lawrence Island or the Pribilofs, sites more easily visited. On those islands the bird may interbreed with the local Snow Buntings, as the two species apparently are very closely related.
Conservation Status
Low Concern
Habitat
Tundra and Boreal Habitats