Mccown's longspur

These birds have a large cone-shaped bill, a streaked back, a rust-coloured shoulder and a white tail with a dark tip. In breeding plumage, the male has a white throat and underparts, a grey face and nape and a black crown. Other birds have pale underparts, a dark crown and may have some black on the breast.

The Mccown's longspur is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The McCown's longspur, which nests in the grasslands, puts on great aerial displays here that are particularly vivid at sunset in early summer, Hutto says.RECREATION U.S. More

The McCown's Longspur, Calcarius mccownii, is a small ground-feeding bird from the family Emberizidae which also contains the American sparrows. Contents - * 1 Overview * 2 References * 3 Further reading * 3.1 Book * 3. More

McCown's Longspur: Feeds on seeds, insects, and other arthropods. Captures prey by flushing, stalking, hawking, or gleaning. Readily Eats Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit Vocalization McCown's Longspur: Song is a high-spirited warbling and twittering, "see, see, see me, see me, hear me, hear me, see." Call is a dry rattle or double-noted "churrip-churrip. More

McCown's Longspur has been found only twice in Louisiana: 30 Nov. 1979 (one on the UNO Campus in New Orleans) and 27 Jan. 1991 (three with Laps and Horned Larks in a newly planted muddy field in northern Jefferson Davis Par.). It is on the LBRC Review List. McCown's commonly winters as close to Louisiana as central Texas. McCown's prefer over- grazed, sparsely vegetated, or bare dirt fields. More

McCown's Longspur - Calcarius mccowniiMcCown's Longspurs are birds of dry shortgrass prairies of the western Great Plains. They often prefer areas with little or no vegetation. Males can be easily found in the summer as they perform their parachuting flight songs. The primary breedingrange of McCown's Longspurs is in states to the west of South Dakota. Habitat: Breeds in shortgrass prairie, often in very poor and dry land with patches of open ground. More

The streaking on the breast of this McCown's Longspur suggests that it is a juvenile. There were a number of adult McCown's Longspurs in the area. More

* The McCown's Longspur was named after Captain John P. McCown, an American army officer. * The name longspur refers to an elongated claw equivalent to a human's big toe. * These birds so dislike moisture that in wet seasons they may abandon areas where they normally are abundant. More

with essentially no cover, McCown's Longspur is drably plumaged. Lacking perches from which to sing, as with several other shortgrass birds; the male makes note of himself with an aerial display of song and exposure of bright white underwing linings. Females build their nests on the ground, often adjacent to clumps of vegetation. The number of species of birds characteristic of the shortgrass is small, but as a whole the group warrants considerable conservation attention. More

A songbird of barren ground, the McCown's Longspur is found in shortgrass prairie and overgrazed pastures of the Great Plains. More

Demography of Mccown's Longspurs and Habitat Resources. Condor. vol 91, no 3. p. 609-619. * Klicka J, Zink RM & Winker K. (2003). Longspurs and snow buntings: phylogeny and biogeography of a high-latitude clade (Calcarius). Mol Phylogenet Evol. vol 26, no 2. p. 165-175. * Lynn SE, Hunt KE & Wingfield JC. (2003). More

Davis: McCown's longspur part of captain's legacy = By Marcia Davis Sunday, August 17, 2008 Confederate Gen. John Porter McCown served before the Civil War as an officer and a naturalist in the U. S. Army from 1840 until 1861. While serving in Texas in 1851 he collected specimens of a bird species new to science. That species, the McCown’s longspur, was named in his honor. More

pioneering ornithologists indicate that the McCown's Longspur was quite common and widely distributed over the western half of the state and throughout the northeastern quarter as well. Apparently, it was either rare or absent in the southeastern quarter of the state. In northeastern North Dakota, early records indicating breeding were reported for the Grand Forks area and in Ramsey County (Currie 1892). P. B. Peabody recorded this species as probably breeding in the vicinity of Pembina during June 1898 (Roberts 1932). More

Breeding distribution of the McCown's Longspur in the United States and southern Canada, based on Breeding Bird Survey data, 1985-1991. Scale represents average number of individuals detected per route per year. Map from Price, J., S. Droege, and A. Price. 1995. The summer atlas of North American birds. Academic Press, London, England. 364 pages. The black circle indicates locations with known populations of McCown's Longspurs, based on Kantrud, H. A. 1982. More

The McCown's Longspur nests in higher and more arid short-grass plains than does the Chestnut-collared Longspur, and so has been less affected by the plowing of the prairies. These birds so dislike moisture that in wet seasons they may abandon areas where they normally are abundant. In summer they feed chiefly on insects, but in fall and winter, when they gather in large flocks with other longspurs and with Horned Larks, they prefer seeds. More