Chestnut-collared Longspur
Calcarius ornatus
Sparrowlike ground-dweller; crouches low to the ground and walks with pattering footsteps. Breeding male shows beautiful chestnut nape, black-and-white head stripes, yellowish throat, and black belly. Females and nonbreeding birds are much more subtle. Tan overall with washed out face pattern, a slightly warmer nape, and indistinct streaks below. With a good view, look for shorter wingtips than other longspurs. In flight, note extensive white on edges of tail. Often found in flocks, sometimes mixed other longspurs. Breeds in grassy prairies, where males give a complex descending song. Winters in fields with short grass.
Identification
These birds have a short conical bill, a streaked back and a white tail with a dark tip. In breeding plumage, the male has black underparts, a chestnut nape, a yellow throat and a black crown. Other birds have light brown underparts, a dark crown, brown wings and may have some chestnut on the nape.<p>Measurements:
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calcarius ornatus
- Authority
- (Townsend, JK, 1837)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Calcariidae
- Genus
- Calcarius
Range and habitat
This bird breeds in short and mixed grass prairies in central Canada and the north central United States. In winter, they migrate in flocks to prairies and open fields in the southern United States and Mexico. Like other prairie birds, they have disappeared from some areas because of habitat loss but are still fairly common.<p>Controlled burns may benefit this species as they feed on low-growing plants that are more easily spotted after a fire.
- Breeding range
- NA : sc Canada and nc USA
- Non-breeding range
- to Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
These birds forage on the ground, gathering in flocks in winter. They mainly eat seeds, also eating insects in summer. Young birds are mainly fed insects.<p>The female lays 4 or 5 eggs in a grass cup nest in a shallow scrape on the ground. The male sings and flies up to defend his territory. Both parents feed the young birds.<p>The call is a two-syllabled chee dee.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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Sclater's Whistler
Pachycephala soror
A medium-sized bird of mid-montane forest. Yellow belly, olive back and white throat. Male has a black head and border to the throat. Female has a brown head and diffuse olive chest band. The male is similar to several other golden whistlers but lacks the yellow patch behind the head. Female is similar to Regent, Lorentz’s and Vogelkop Whistler’s but has white throat and brown head. Voice, a series of typical whistlerlike “chew!” or “whip!” notes that get louder and end with an explosive quality.
White-throated Antbird
Oneillornis salvini
Attractive ant-following antbird of mature rainforest. It is an obligate ant-follower, and is usually found in pairs or family groups around army ant swarms. The two sexes are uniquely distinctive: males are gray with a white eyebrow and throat and fine white tail barring; females are rusty orange with faint black patterning and fine black tail barring. While it follows army ant swarms through a variety of mature and secondary rainforest habitats, its territories are usually centered around areas of dense undergrowth within mature rainforest, like in upland ravines and around tree fall gaps. Its song is a distinctive slow, descending series of wheezy whistled notes.
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