Smith's Longspur

Calcarius pictus ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: EMBERIZIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

A brightly patterned songbird of the subarctic tundra, the Smith's Longspur winters only in the center of the United States.

For complete information on this species, visit The Birds of North America Online.

Appearance

Sparrowlike

Medium-sized sparrow-like bird.
Short, thick, pointed bill.
Long tail with white outer feathers.
Whitish wingbars.
Breeding male with orangish neck, chest, and belly, and black-and-white patterned face.
Female and winter male with dull, buffy belly and small white eyering.

Similar to female.

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Horned Lark has thin bill, black face patch, black tail with white outer tail feathers.
Pipits have thin bills.
Chestnut-collared Longspur has black triangle on white tail; breeding male has black chest and belly and rufous nape.
Lapland Longspur has little white on outer edge of tail, and rufous in the wings.
McCown's Longspur has black T on white tail (tip and center black); breeding male has small black chest patch and gray belly.