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Farm Fields Hold a Wonderful Winter Secret: Visiting Arctic Songbirds
Need a nudge to get outdoors when the mercury drops? Take inspiration from these hardy travelers and hit some backroads for a comfy birding adventure.
The depths of winter might find some hardy outdoor folk slogging through knee-deep snow for a glimpse of an owl or enduring icy winds to seek out weird ducks. Not that brand of birder? Not a problem.
There’s another style of cold-weather birding that you can enjoy from a toasty vehicle, with your favorite tunes for a soundtrack and your preferred hot beverage at hand. Bonus: You’ll visit starkly beautiful landscapes and, with a little luck, find flocks of fascinating songbirds that shrug at winter’s extremes.
Farm fields in the United States and southern Canada may seem harsh in winter, but for several sturdy species that breed on the Arctic tundra—including Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, Horned Lark, and American Pipit—these are attractive places to spend the nonbreeding season. To find the birds, look for fields of corn or wheat stubble, especially those where manure has been spread recently. (They’re probably after undigested seeds.) And if you locate a flock, look closely: These species often intermingle.
Driving slowly through agricultural areas, you’re also likely to find raptors like Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl, and American Kestrel—not to mention deer, foxes, and other wildlife. “You end up seeing a lot more of the countryside that you didn’t know was there,” says University of Windsor biologist Oliver Love, who studies Snow Buntings. “There’s a lot of diversity going on.”
This type of birding may lack migration season’s colors and cacophony, but it’s a perfect time to admire the austere loveliness of winter farmland and contemplate birds that connect us with the Far North. “We can get a little spoiled in spring with so many birds singing, migrating, and moving through,” says Audubon Great Plains avian ecologist Stephen Brenner. “Winter is a nice time to slow down the pace and really appreciate the birds you do get to see.”
This story originally ran in the Winter 2025 issue as “Arctic Visitors.” To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.