Lapland longspur: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Species of passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae}}

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |urlauthor=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22721033/0BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Calcarius lapponicus'' |authorvolume=BirdLife International2017 |author-linkpage=BirdLife Internationale.T22721033A111138693 |yeardoi=201210.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22721033A111138693.en |access-date=2613 November 20132021}}</ref>

The '''Lapland longspur''' ('''''Calcarius lapponicus'''''), also known as the '''Lapland bunting''', is a [[passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[longspur]] [[family (biology)|family]] Calcariidae, a group separated by most modern authors from the Fringillidae (Old World [[finch]]es).

* '''Length''': 5.9-6.3 in (15-16  cm)

* '''Wingspan''': 8.7-11.4 in (22-29  cm)

It breeds across Arctic [[Europe]] and the [[Palearctic]] and in Canada and the northernmost United States. It is [[bird migration|migratory]], 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|Asia]]n [[species]] of the [[longspur]] buntings, and while it probably did not [[evolution|evolve]] there, it has been present in [[Eastern Europe]] for at least about 30,000 years.<ref name=AZC>{{cite journal |last1=Tomek |first1=Teresa |last2=Bocheński |first2=Zygmunt |date=2005 |title=Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland |journal=Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia |publisher=Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences |volume=48A |issue=1–2 |pages=43–65 |doi=10.3409/173491505783995743 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

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.<ref name=Gabrielson/> 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.<ref name=Watson>{{cite journal |last=Watson |first=Adam |date=1957 |title=Birds of the Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island |journal=The Canadian Field-Naturalist |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=87–109|doi=10.5962/p.341713 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Custer |first1=Thomas W. |last2=Osborn |first2=Ronald G. |last3=Pitelka |first3=Frank A. |last4=Gessaman |first4=James A. |date=1986 |title=Energy Budget and Prey Requirements of Breeding Lapland Longspurs near Barrow, Alaska, U.S.A. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1551091 |journal=Arctic and Alpine Research |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=415–427 |doi=10.2307/1551091 |jstor=1551091 |issn=0004-0851}}</ref> Dipteran larvae and adults form the major part of their insectivorous diet.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Custer |first1=Thomas W. |last2=Pitelka |first2=Frank A. |title=Seasonal trends in summer diet of the Lapland longspur near Barrow, Alaska |journal=The Condor |date=1978 |doi=10.2307/1368039 |volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=295–301|jstor=1368039 }}</ref>

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* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020311084527/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/20230400.htm Stamps]}} (for Canada) with Circumpolar Range-Map at bird-stamps.org