The Lapland Longspur is an Arctic-nesting songbird that pours south into Michigan for the winter, often in large flocks that feed on barren open ground alongside Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. In their drab winter plumage the birds are streaky brown with rusty edging on the wing and a dark-bordered face pattern, easy to overlook until a flock erupts from a stubble field. The "longspur" name refers to the greatly elongated claw on the hind toe, an adaptation of birds that spend their lives walking on open ground.
Lapland Longspurs breed on the Arctic tundra, where the male is a handsome black-faced, chestnut-naped bird, but Michiganders see them only in their muted winter dress. They favor the most open, wind-swept habitats — stubble and plowed fields, shorelines, and gravel roadsides — walking and running as they glean waste grain and weed seeds. Flocks give distinctive dry rattles and short whistled notes in flight. Picking longspurs out of a mixed winter flock of open-country songbirds is a rewarding cold-weather challenge.
Feeds on the seeds of grasses, weeds, and waste grain gathered from open ground, stubble fields, and shorelines in winter, switching to insects during its brief Arctic breeding season. Winter flocks forage by walking over barren and snow-swept ground, often with Horned Larks and Snow Buntings.
The name refers to the unusually long claw on the hind toe, an adaptation seen in birds that walk on open ground. The Lapland Longspur and its relatives are named for this elongated hind claw.
In winter, roughly late fall through early spring, in open habitats — stubble and plowed fields, shorelines, and gravel roadsides — often mixed with Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. It breeds on the Arctic tundra and is absent in summer.
In its drab winter plumage it is a streaky brown, sparrow-like bird with rusty wing edging and a dark-bordered face, usually detected in flocks flushing from open fields. Dry rattling flight calls also help.
Constantly. Winter flocks are usually mixed in with Horned Larks and Snow Buntings on open farmland, and picking out the longspurs from a swirling drift is a standard Michigan winter challenge.
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