Chunky, sparrowlike grassland bird. Breeding males have a black breast, gray belly, chestnut wing patch, and a gray-and-white face.
© Bryan Calk / Macaulay LibraryColorado, June 30, 2018Chunky grassland bird with a stout bill. Females have a stout pink bill and chestnut wing patches that can sometimes be difficult to see. Note unstreaked whitish belly.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 20, 2012Song is a soft tinkling warble. Males usually sing while flying, as part of an aerial display, but also sing while perched on an elevated surface such as a rock, fence, or shrub.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryColorado, July 06, 2011Male flutters upward and descends on outstretched wings and tail during aerial displays on the breeding grounds. The outstretched tail is white with a black T.
© Shawn Billerman / Macaulay LibraryWyoming, April 12, 2014Forms flocks outside of the breeding season. Note black T on the tail and black band on the breast of the males.
© Tom Johnson / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 05, 2016Breeding males have a black breast band and crown and a chestnut wing patch.
© Shawn Billerman / Macaulay LibraryWyoming, April 12, 2014Immatures have a chunky bill, a broad stripe over the eye, a smudgy brown band across the breast, and unstreaked white underparts. They don't have rufous in the wing like adults do.
© Jonah Benningfield / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, October 10, 2017Juveniles look heavily mottled overall with white fringed feathers. Note stout pink bill.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryMontana, July 26, 2017Slightly smaller than a Horned Lark with a stout pink bill. Note faint black breast band on this molting male.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 23, 2003Click on an image to compare
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View Birds Near MeA small, sparrowlike songbird with a rounded head and heavy, thick-based, conical bill.
Slightly larger than a Brewer's Sparrow, smaller than a Brewer's Blackbird.
between sparrow and robinLongspurs and Snow Buntings(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Calcariidae)
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