Lapland Longspur
Calcarius lapponicus
Sparrowlike ground-dweller; crouches low to the ground and walks with pattering footsteps. Breeding male is gorgeous and unmistakable: yellow bill, black face, broad white eyebrow, and bright rufous nape unlike any other bird. Females and nonbreeding birds are much more subtle. Habitat and habits provide good clues: often in flocks in winter, sometimes mixed with Horned Larks or Snow Buntings, on barren landscapes such as beaches or dirt fields. To separate from other longspurs, look for combination of face pattern, rufous nape, and rufous wing panel with white tips. Breeds on Arctic tundra, where males sing a tinkling warble. Can also be heard giving "teew" notes and rattle calls like Snow Buntings and other longspurs.
Identification
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.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calcarius lapponicus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Calcariidae
- Genus
- Calcarius
Range and habitat
It breeds across Arctic Europe and the Palearctic and in Canada and the northernmost United States. It is migratory, wintering in the Russian steppes, the southern United States, Northern Scandinavian arctic areas and down to coastal Southern Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain. This is the only Asian 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.
- Breeding range
- NA, PAL : n
- Non-breeding range
- c PAL, s USA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
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.<p>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.<p>The food habits of the Lapland longspur are quite simple: mostly seeds in winter and arthropods in the summer, when they are in activity.<p>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 do forage through vegetation when climatic conditions prevent the insects from flying. Longspurs can consume between 3000 and 10,000 prey items (insects or seeds) per day, depending on their energy needs ; they may need to increase this number by 3000 when feeding the young. Dipteran larvae and adults form the major part of their insectivorous diet.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Bumblebee Hummingbird
Selasphorus heloisa
Tiny (bumblebee-sized) hummingbird of humid forest in the mountains of Mexico. Favors shrubby clearings and edges in evergreen forest and banks of flowers where other hummingbirds gather. Feeds while hovering in a horizontal position with tail cocked. Very inconspicuous, but male sometimes sings persistently from an exposed perch. Male has expansive, magenta-pink gorget, rather short tail with white corners and rusty base. Female has dark-spotted throat and same tail pattern as male. Very similar Wine-throated Hummingbird does not overlap in range.
Brown Violetear
Colibri delphinae
Uncommon, rather large but drab, fairly short-billed hummingbird of tropical and subtropical forest and edge. Can be aggressive when defending flower patches from most other hummingbirds. Occurs mainly in foothills, ranging seasonally down to lowlands. Sexes similar: overall grayish brown with a broad pale mustache, dark throat patch, and dark violet ear patches that can be raised. Tail has a broad blackish subterminal band and rump feathers have bright rusty edgings.
Delicate Prinia
Prinia lepida
Tiny, disproportionately long-tailed, active, and vocal. The upperparts are gray-brown with heavy dark streaking, the underparts are pale, and each tail feather shows both pale and dark tips. Generally found in rather moist habitats within arid zones, including field margins, riparian woodland, scrub, gardens, and wetlands; can be quite numerous. Very vocal, especially in spring. The song is a rattling series of dry chirps, subtly different from the slower-paced song of Graceful Prinia. Males often sing from obvious perches. Visually extremely similar to Graceful Prinia, but there is little overlap in range. In any areas of overlap, best separated by song, but Delicate is also slightly longer- and narrower-tailed and browner.
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