Calcarius lapponicus
The Lapland Longspur is a captivating passerine, measuring approximately 13-17 cm (5-6.7 inches) in length with a wingspan of 25-28 cm (9.8-11 inches) and weighing 20-30 grams. Breeding males are striking, featuring a black face and throat bordered by a white stripe, a chestnut nape, and a streaky brown back, with a white belly and flanks. Females and winter males are more subtly patterned, exhibiting buffy and streaked plumages but retaining a hint of the distinctive chestnut on the nape and...
Breeds in open Arctic and subarctic tundra, including rocky slopes and marshy meadows; winters in vast open grasslands, agricultural fields, and coastal plains, typically at low elevations.
Primarily consumes insects (mosquitoes, flies, beetles) during the breeding season, shifting to a diet mainly of seeds (grasses, sedges, weeds) during migration and winter. Forages by walking on the ground, gleaning food from vegetation and the soil surface.
Primarily diurnal, the Lapland Longspur is often found foraging on the ground, probing for food with its short, conical bill. Outside the breeding season, they are highly gregarious, forming massive flocks that can number in the hundreds of thousands, especially during migration and winter. Durin...
The Lapland Longspur exhibits a vast circumpolar breeding range across the high Arctic tundra of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. In North America, they breed extensively across Alaska and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, extending south to northern Labrador. During winter, they undert...
Least Concern
- The Lapland Longspur is named for its unusually long hind claw, a characteristic shared by all members of the longspur family (Calcariidae). - It is one of the most numerous bird species in North America, with an estimated global population exceeding 100 million individuals. - During migration ...