Snow Bunting Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesSnow Bunting
Breeding male
Chunky ground-dwelling bird with a short conical bill. Breeding males are mostly white with a black back.
© Christoph Moning / Macaulay LibrarySvalbard, June 05, 2015Breeding female
Medium-sized full-bodied songbird with a small conical bill. Breeding females have a dark and streaky back with a dusky head and white underparts.
© Christoph Moning / Macaulay LibrarySvalbard, June 06, 2015Breeding male
Males sing a low, husky warble on the breeding grounds.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, June 05, 2002Nonbreeding male
Small-billed sparrowlike bird. Nonbreeding males are white below with rusty patches on the head, "ear," and shoulders. Its back is dark and streaky.
© gord smith / Macaulay LibraryAlberta, January 08, 2013Nonbreeding female
Sparrowlike bird with a small conical bill. Nonbreeding females have rusty patches on the head, "ear," and chest. The back is dark with rusty streaks.
© Caroline Lambert / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 05, 2015Nonbreeding female
Forages for seeds, picking them from vegetation or from the ground.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryNew York, November 06, 2012Juvenile
Juveniles are grayish overall with darker wings and a paler belly.
© Daniel Tinoco / Macaulay LibraryGreenland, July 21, 2015Nonbreeding male
Distinctive plumage pattern in flight. On males the outer wings are dark while the inner wings are white. The outer tail feathers also flash white in flight.
© Max Nootbaar / Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, December 29, 2018Breeding male
Breeds in the high arctic in rocky areas.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryNunavut, June 19, 1997Flock
Forms flocks with other Snow Buntings during winter where they tend to blend in with their surroundings. Forages in fields or along lake shores.
© Sally Chisholm / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, January 10, 2017Habitat
Breeds in rocky areas in the tundra. Nests on the ground in rock crevices.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, June 22, 2017Nonbreeding adult
Tends to crouch low to the ground, blending in with the background.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryNew York, November 21, 2011Similar SpeciesLapland Longspur
Nonbreeding/immature
Nonbreeding/immature Lapland Longspurs lack the Snow Bunting's white wing patch and they have streaking on their sides that nonbreeding Snow Buntings don't have.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, December 19, 2003Similar SpeciesHorned Lark
Female
Female Horned Larks lack the Snow Bunting's white wing patch and they have a yellow (not white) throat.
© Bridget Spencer / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, September 04, 2015Species in This Family
Longspurs and Snow Buntings(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Calcariidae)
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