Smith's Longspur

Smith's Longspur, breeding male; Churchill, Manitoba; June

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A brightly patterned songbird of the subarctic tundra, the Smith's Longspur winters only in the center of the United States.

Description

• Medium-sized sparrow-like bird.
• Short, thick, pointed bill.
• Long tail with white outer feathers.
• Whitish wingbars.
• Breeding male with orangish neck, chest, and belly, and black-and-white patterned face.
• Female and winter male with dull, buffy belly and small white eyering.

• Size: 15-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 20-32 g (0.71-1.13 ounces)

Sex Differences

Breeding male strikingly marked with black-and-white face and orangish tan underside, female and winter male dull buffy with only a hint of face pattern.

Sound

Song a high sweet warble. Flight note a dry rattle.

Conservation Status

Total population unknown and no long-term data available to determine trends in populations.

Other Names

Bruant de Smith (French)

Cool Facts

• The Smith?s Longspur is polygynandrous: each female pairs and copulates with two or three males for a single clutch of eggs, at the same time that each male pairs and copulates with two or more females.
• Male Smith's Longspurs are not territorial, but instead compete for fertilizations by copulating with females frequently in order to dilute or displace sperm from other males.

• Over a period of one week in June, a female Smith's Longspur will copulate over 350 times on average; this is one of the highest copulation rates of any bird.

• ?Longspur? refers to the elongated claw of the hind toe.

Sources used to construct this page:

Briskie, J. V. 1993. Smith?s Longspur (Calcarius pictus). In The Birds of North America, No. 34 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists? Union.