McCown's Longspur Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: A compact, short-tailed longspur about 14–15 cm (5.5–6 in) long with a notably thick, conical bill (heavier than other longspurs) and a big, rounded head.
• Breeding male: Grey-and-black head with a solid black crown patch, a black crescent-shaped breast band, grey nape, and streaky brownish-grey back; underparts otherwise pale grey-white.
• Female/non-breeding/winter birds: Much plainer sandy-brown and streaky overall, resembling a sparrow; best identified by bill thickness, tail pattern, and structure rather than plumage.
• Bill color: Thick, pale pinkish or horn-colored bill year-round — a key mark separating it from other longspurs, which have darker or thinner bills.
• Tail pattern: In flight, shows a mostly white tail with a dark, inverted-T (or dark triangle) at the tip and center — distinct from the more extensively dark-tipped tails of Chestnut-collared and Lapland Longspurs.
• Legs: Blackish legs and feet, walks/runs on the ground rather than hopping, typical longspur behavior.

Similar Species

• Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus): Breeding male has a chestnut nape and black underparts (not just a breast crescent); in flight its tail shows more black restricted mainly to the central feathers with white sides, differing from Thick-billed/McCown's inverted-T pattern.
• Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus): Larger, with a thinner bill, chestnut nape patch in breeding males, and a different, more solidly dark-centered tail.
• Sparrows (winter birds): Non-breeding longspurs can suggest sparrows; the thick pale bill, short notched tail with white edges, and flight call are the best clues.

Where & When to See It

• Breeding range: Shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie of the northern Great Plains — parts of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and adjacent southern Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan).
• Habitat: Prefers very short, sparse grassland, often heavily grazed or naturally short prairie, more so than taller-grass specialists like Chestnut-collared Longspur.
• Winter range: Withdraws south to open shortgrass plains, agricultural fields, and prairie of the southern Great Plains, west Texas, and northern Mexico, often in mixed flocks with other longspurs and Horned Larks.
• Season: Breeds spring–summer on the northern plains; present in winter flocks on the southern plains from roughly October through March.

Voice

• Song is a short, sweet, tinkling warble given in a distinctive display flight, where the male rises steeply then glides down on stiffly held wings while singing.
• Flight call is a dry rattling or "kittle" note, useful for picking birds out of mixed winter flocks on the ground.

Note on Name

This species was renamed Thick-billed Longspur by the American Ornithological Society in 2020, replacing the earlier eponymous name; both names refer to the identical bird.