Submitted by Susan Warren
It is Feb. 4 as I write this column and I have yet to see a single snow bunting this winter.
It took time to identify this bird in my early birding days. Of help is their long, whitish wings and habit of flying swiftly over the snow-covered roadside and fields. Horned larks and longspurs may join flocks of buntings. Scientific name, plectrophenax, comes from the tool-like, long, hind claw and the word snow. A remarkably hardy species.
ID: bill, yellowish; body, darker plumage; crown, golden brown. Males have reddish brown on head and shoulders; female is paler. Breast patch orangy in male. Size: 7”/15-18cm or sparrow-sized.
Inflight: Undulating. Appear brown in colour until their long, white wings, with black tips, appears after taking flight.
Voice: clear chew, rattle, buzz, snarl, chi-tik.
Status: winter migrant.
Habitat: fields, roadsides, croplands, beaches and dunes. Farthest northerly breeding songbird worldwide. In severe storms they will dig a hole in the snow for refuge. They often swirl over snow-covered fields in large flocks of thousands. I once observed a huge flock nearby. Roosting takes place on the ground or on telephone wires.
Feeding: gleans ground for fallen seeds and grain. Sand or gravel from roadside used for mineral content and digesting seeds.
Arctic breeding season: summer male plumage is stark white head and underparts. Back, wings and tail are black with white patches. Female and juvenile, muted grays and lighter undersides. No other songbird shows so much white. Males may arrive in April, 4-5 weeks prior to females, to defend their nest site. Inuit consider this event their harbinger of spring. Only breeding area in Ontario is the south-western tip of Hudson Bay. Cup-shaped nests are built on rocky terrain using grass and moss, with fur and feathers for lining.
Lifespan: 8 years.
Conservation: least concern.
Resources Used: Birds of Ontario, Alberta, Stokes, Audubon. Lorimer, Peterson, Reader’s Digest, DK bird books, Cornell Lab.
