Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus Scientific name definitions

One of the most abundant terrestrial birds wintering in northern North America, the Lapland Longspur breeds across vast areas of the Arctic, where it is almost invariably the most visible and abundant bird and sometimes the only nesting songbird. In winter, it is generally uncommon in eastern North America and west of the Rocky Mountains, but huge numbers can be found west of the Great Lakes and across the Great Plains from southern Canada to northern Texas, often feeding on waste grain in agricultural fields; some flocks have been estimated as large as 4 million birds. Such flocks are sometimes victims of mass destruction at lighted structures when their nocturnal migrations and winter wanderings coincide with snowstorms and poor visibility.

This species is known as the Lapland Bunting in Britain. The North American name “longspur” refers to the unusually long claw on the hind toe of this and other species in the genus Calcarius. The other 3 species of longspur are confined to North America, whereas the Lapland Longspur occupies an extensive Holarctic range, breeding across northern Eurasia.

The breeding biology of the Lapland Longspur in North America and Greenland is well known from studies at several sites throughout its summer range, including St. Michael's, Alaska (1 Nelson, E. W. (1887). Report upon natural history collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881. U.S. Signal Service, Arctic Series no. 3, part 1. Birds of Alaska. Close ); Southampton I., Nunavut (2 Sutton, G. M. (1932b). The exploration of Southampton Island. Part II, Zoölogy. Section 2.-The birds of Southampton Island. Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum 12 (2):1-275. Close ); Churchill, Manitoba (3 Taverner, P. A., and G. M. Sutton (1934). The birds of Churchill, Manitoba. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 23:1–83. Close , 4 Grinnell, L. I. (1944). Notes on breeding Lapland Longspurs at Churchill, Manitoba. Auk 61:554-560. Close ); Baffin Island, Nunavut (5 Wynne-Edwards, V. C. 1952b. Zoology of the Baird Expedition (1950). I. The birds observed in central and south-east Baffin Island. Auk 69 (4):353-391. Close , 6 Sutton, G. M. and D. F. Parmelee. (1955c). Summer activities of the Lapland Longspur on Baffin Island. Wilson Bulletin 67:110-127. Close , 7 Watson, A. (1957a). Birds of the Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island. Canadian Field-Naturalist 71:87-109. Close ); Bylot Island, Nunavut (8 Drury, Jr., W. H. (1961b). Studies of the breeding biology of Horned Lark, Water Pipit, Lapland Longspur, and Snow Bunting on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Bird-Banding 32:1-46. Close ); Victoria Island, Nunavut (9 Parmelee, D. F., H. A. Stephens, and R. H. Schmidt (1967). The birds of Southeastern Victoria Island and adjacent small islands. National Museum of Canada Bulletin 222. Close ); Amchitka Island, Alaska; and Cape Thompson, Alaska (10 Williamson, F. S. L. (1968). "Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus (Linnaeus), Common Lapland Longspur; Calcarius lapponicus alascencis Ridgway, Alaska Longspur." In Life histories of North American cardinals, grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, finches, sparrows, and allies., edited by Jr O. L. Austin, 1597-1627. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 237. Close , 11 Williamson, F. S. L. and W. B. Emison. (1971). Variation in the timing of breeding and molt of the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) in Alaska, with relation to differences in latitude. BioScience 21:701-707. Close ), Devon Island, Nunavut (12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close ); Sarcpa Lake, Nunavut (13 Montgomerie, R. D., R. D. Cartar, R. L. McLaughlin, and B. Lyon (1983). Birds of Sarcpa Lake, Melville Peninsula, Northwest Territories: breeding phenologies, densities and biogeography. Arctic 36:65–75. Close ); and Eqalungmiut Nunaat, west Greenland (14 Madsen, J. (1982). Timing of breeding and reproductive success in a Lapland Bunting Calcarius lapponicus population in Eqalungmiut Nunaat, West Greenland. Dansk Ornithologisk Forenings Tidsskrift 76:137-145. Close , 15 Fox, A. D., I. S. Francis, J. Madsen and J. M. Stroud. (1987). The breeding biology of the Lapland Bunting Calcarius lapponicus in West Greenland during two contrasting years. Ibis 129:541-552. Close ).

The breeding behavior of this species is relatively easily observed because of its open nesting habitat, its tameness during the breeding season, and its high breeding densities. As a result, studies of this species spanning more than a century have made useful contributions to ornithology, as well as to ecology, behavior, physiology, and evolutionary biology. These have included investigations of growth (4 Grinnell, L. I. (1944). Notes on breeding Lapland Longspurs at Churchill, Manitoba. Auk 61:554-560. Close , 16 Maher, W. J. (1964). Growth rate and development of endothermy in the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) and the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) at Barrow, Alaska. Ecology 45:520-528. Close , 12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close ), development of thermoregulation (16 Maher, W. J. (1964). Growth rate and development of endothermy in the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) and the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) at Barrow, Alaska. Ecology 45:520-528. Close ), clutch size (12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close ), asynchronous hatching (12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close ), demography (17 Custer, T. W. and F. A. Pitelka. (1977). Demographic features of a Lapland Longspur population near Barrow, Alaska. Auk 94:505-525. Close ), energy budgets (18 Custer, T. W., R. G. Osborn, F. A. Pitelka and J. A. Gessaman. (1986b). Energy budget and prey requirements of breeding Lapland Longspurs near Barrow, Alaska, U.S.A. Arct. Alp. Res. 18:415-427. Close ), diet (12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close , 19 Custer, T. W. and F. A. Pitelka. (1978). Seasonal trends in summer diet of the Lapland Longspur near Barrow, Alaska. Condor 80:295-301. Close , 20 Seastedt, T. R. (1980). Diets of young Lapland Longspurs in arctic and subarctic Alaska. Condor 82:232-233. Close ), molt (11 Williamson, F. S. L. and W. B. Emison. (1971). Variation in the timing of breeding and molt of the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) in Alaska, with relation to differences in latitude. BioScience 21:701-707. Close , 12 Hussell, D. J. T. (1972). Factors affecting clutch size in arctic passerines. Ecological Monographs 42:317-364. Close , 21 Francis, I. S., A. D. Fox, J. P. McCarthy and C. R. McKay. (1991). Measurements and moult of the Lapland Bunting Calcarius lapponicus in West Greenland. Ringing & Migration 12:28-37. Close ), territoriality (22 Seastedt, T. R. and S. F. MacLean. (1979). Territory size and composition in relation to resource abundance in Lapland Longspurs breeding in arctic Alaska. Auk 96:131-142. Close ), brood division and dispersal (23 Mclaughlin, R. L. and R. D. Montgomerie. (1985a). Brood division by Lapland Longspurs. Auk 102:687-695. Close ), foraging and flight speeds (McLaughlin and Montgomerie 24 Mclaughlin, R. L. and R. D. Montgomerie. (1985b). Flight speeds of central place foragers: female Lapland longspurs feeding nestlings. Animal Behaviour 33:810-816. Close , 25 Mclaughlin, R. L. and R. D. Montgomerie. (1989). Brood dispersal and multiple central place foraging by Lapland Longspur parents. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 25:207-215. Close , 26 Mclaughlin, R. L. and R. D. Montgomerie. (1990). Flight speeds of parent birds feeding nestlings: maximization of foraging efficiency or food delivery rate? Canadian Journal of Zoology 68:2269-2274. Close ), and song dialects (27 Bjørnsen, B. (1988). Strophe length, song display, plumage coloration, biometry, in relation to territory occupation order and reproductive success of Lapland Bunting males. Cand. Scient. thesis, Univ. of Bergen, Norway. Close , 28 Mullie, A. (1991). Song of the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus): social factors contributing to dialect stability. Master's Thesis, Queen's Univ., Kingston, ON. Close ).

The unpublished data and observations by RM in this species account were collected during 13 breeding seasons (June–July 1981–1993) of research at Sarcpa Lake (68°33'N, 83°19'W) and to a lesser extent at Igloolik, Nunavut (1984, 1985, 1989–1994), Hall Beach and Iqaluit, Nunavut (various years, 1981–1993), and Point Barrow (1993) and Attu (1994–1995), Alaska. Unpublished observations attributed to DJTH were collected during 4 summers of field work (1966–1969) on Truelove Lowland, Devon Island (75°41'N, 84°35'W), and additional fieldwork at Iqaluit (1959); Igiak Bay, Alaska (1960); and Churchill, Manitoba (1965, 1991).

Migratory behavior is relatively poorly known (but see 29 Irving, L. (1961). The migration of Lapland Longspurs to Alaska. Auk 78:327-342. Close , 30 West, G. C., L. J. Peyton and L. Irving. (1968a). Analysis of spring migration of Lapland Longspurs to Alaska. Auk 85:639-653. Close ), and there is little detailed information on winter behavior and ecology, other than a series of studies in Oklahoma (31 Grzybowski, J. A. (1976). Habitat selection among some grassland birds wintering in Oklahoma. Ann. Okla. Acad. Sci. 6:176-182. Close , 32 Grzybowski, J. A. (1982). Population structure in grassland bird communities during winter. Condor 84:137-152. Close , 33 Grzybowski, J. A. (1983b). Patterns of space use in grassland bird communities during winter. Wilson Bulletin 95:591-602. Close , 34 Grzybowski, J. A. (1983c). Sociality of grassland birds during winter. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 13:211-219. Close ).