Lapland Longspur

The Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) is a robust, ground-dwelling songbird designed for life in some of the world's most unforgiving environments. Breeding in the wet, boggy tundras of the high Arctic, this species migrates south to spend its winters in the wide-open prairies, agricultural landscapes, and coastal dunes of the temperate zone. Its common name derives from its extremely long, straight hind claw (the "spur"), which is thought to assist with walking on snow and spongy tundra turf. During the breeding season, males display an exceptionally bold and attractive plumage pattern, while their winter appearance is highly cryptic, blending seamlessly with dry soil, stubble, and dead grasses.

Identifying the Lapland Longspur varies dramatically depending on the season and the bird's sex.

Breeding Plumage

• Breeding Male: Unmistakable. Bold black face, throat, and upper breast, sharply bordered by a broad cream-to-white stripe that runs from behind the eye down the side of the neck. The back of the neck (nape) features a rich, bright chestnut collar. The underparts are clean white, and the flanks are streaked with black.
• Breeding Female: Paler and more cryptic than the male, but still outlines the same general pattern. Her black face markings are replaced by dusty brown, but she often retains a noticeable buffy supercilium and a duller, rust-colored collar on her nape.

Winter/Non-Breeding Plumage

In winter, both sexes molt into a streaky, brownish-buff plumage that can make them difficult to pick out from other ground-dwelling birds.

• Key Field Marks: Look for a warm, rufous-chestnut patch on the folded wing (secondary coverts). The face features a buffy eyebrow and a dark, crescent-shaped line outlining the ear coverts (forming a distinct "frame" on the cheek). Bills are triangular and dull yellow with a dark tip.

Similar Species

• Snow Bunting: Shows far more white in the wings and tail in all plumages. In flight, Snow Buntings look flashes of white, whereas Lapland Longspurs look dark and streaky.
• Horned Lark: Thinner bill, lacks the rufous wing coverts, and displays a distinct yellow throat and black chest band.
• Smith's Longspur: Rarer; winter birds are much warmer buff overall, particularly on the entire underparts, and lack the dark frame around the ear coverts.

The Lapland Longspur is a circumpolar species that undergoes a complete transformation in habitat between seasons.

Breeding Range and Habitat

During the summer, they breed across the entire global high Arctic, including northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, northern Scandinavia, and Siberia. Their preferred breeding grounds are wet tundra, shrubby meadows, tussock wet ground, and dwarf-willow bog edges where insect populations are dense.

Winter Range and Migration

As autumn approaches, they migrate southward in massive flocks. Their wintering grounds cover the agricultural heartlands of North America (including the Great Plains and US Midwest) and central Eurasia. In winter, they seek out massive, flat, open spaces with minimal vertical structure, such as harvested cornfields, plowed agricultural fields, wind-swept prairies, and sandy coastal beaches.

Feeding and Diet

Lapland Longspurs are strictly ground foragers. They walk or run rather than hop, searching the soil and low stubble for food. In the summer, their diet is highly insectivorous, relying heavily on flies, mosquitoes, beetles, and spiders to feed themselves and their fast-growing chicks. In the winter, they shift entirely to seeds, primarily eating the seeds of grasses, weeds, and waste agricultural grain.

Vocalizations

• Flight Call: The most diagnostic way to locate this species in winter. They emit a dry, rapid, clicking rattle: tick-tick-tick-tick, frequently paired with a clear, liquid, rising whistle: tew or cheew.
• Song: Delivered by males on the breeding grounds during a spectacular aerial display. The male flies upward, then glides downward on stiff wings, emitting a fast, bubbling, flute-like warble.

Nesting

Nests are built exclusively on the ground by the female. She scrapes out a shallow depression, often on the side of a grassy hummock or tucked beneath dwarf shrubs for wind protection. The nest is a cup of grass and moss, heavily lined with thick layers of feathers (often from Ptarmigans) and animal hair to insulate against the Arctic cold.