Lapland Bunting

The Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.

This bird breeds across arctic Europe and Asia, as well as in Canada and the northernmost USA. In North America it is known as the Lapland Longspur. This migratory bird winters in the Russian steppes, the southern USA, coastal Denmark and Great Britain. It breeds in wet areas with birch or willow, and or bare mountains, and winters on cultivated land or coasts. The bird is often seen close to the tree line.

The Lapland Bunting is a robust bird, with a thick yellow seed-eater’s bill. The summer male has a black head and throat, white eyestripe, chestnut nape, white underparts, and a heavily streaked black-grey back. Other plumages have a plainer orange-brown head, a browner back and chestnut nape and wing panels.

The most common flight call is a hard “prrrrt” usually preceded by a more nasal “teeww”. When breeding, it also makes a softer “duyyeee” followed by a pause and a “triiiuuu”; both sounds alternate.

Its natural food consists of seeds but when feeding its young this bird chooses insects. The nest is on the ground. 2-4 eggs are laid.

These birds often feed in mixed flocks in winter.