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The Lapland longspur ( Calcarius lapponicus), also known as the Lapland bunting, is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae, a group separated by most modern authors from the Fringillidae (Old World ).
Five subspecies are recognised:
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.
==Gallery==
Description
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.
Distribution and habitat
It breeds across Arctic Europe and the Palearctic and in Canada and the northernmost United States. It is bird migration, 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 Palearctic species of the longspur buntings, and while it probably did not evolution there, it has been present in Eastern Europe for at least about 30,000 years.
Behaviour
Call
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.
Breeding
The Lapland longspur is a ground-nesting bird, preferring to build its cup nest on heavily-vegetated slopes or among Carex stricta in low-lying wet areas. They lay, on average, 5 eggs per brood. It breeds in wet tundra, riparian areas, and marshes.Henry, J. D., and M. Mico. (2002). Relative abundance, habitat use, and breeding status of birds in Aulavik National Park, Banks Island, Northwest Territories. Canadian Field-Naturalist 116: 393-407.
Wintering
During the winter, these birds are commonly found across the Great Plains and northeast of the United States, as well as southern Canada, where they can typically be seen foraging in agricultural fields. Lapland longspurs often form mixed-species flocks in winter, where they are regularly accompanied by and .
Hybridization
In 2011, a male Lapland longspur × snow bunting hybrid was identified in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Food habits
The food habits of the Lapland longspur are quite simple: mostly seeds in winter and arthropods in the summer, when they are in activity.
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