McCown's Longspur

Calcarius mccowniiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Codes: Common Name: MCLO Scientific Name: CALMCC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179525

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McCown's Longspur Breeding Male Portrait

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

McCown's Longspur

McCown's Longspur: Medium-sized sparrow with streaked gray upperparts, plain gray underparts, and darker breast. The head has a black crown, white face and throat, and a stout, heavy bill. White tail has diagnostic black inverted T. Wings have chestnut-brown bars. Black legs and feet.

● Song: "see, see, see me, see me, hear me, hear me, see", "churrip-churrip"

● Foraging & Feeding: McCown's Longspur: Feeds on seeds, insects, and other arthropods. Captures prey by flushing, stalking, hawking, or gleaning.

● Breeding & nesting: McCown's Longspur: Two to four white to pale olive eggs marked with brown and lavender are laid in a shallow ground depression lined with grass, weeds, roots, and lichens. Eggs are incubated for 12 days by the female.

● Similar species: McCown's Longspur: Chestnut-Collared Longspur has a white tail with black triangle, black belly, and chestnut-brown collar.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

McCown's Longspur Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: McCown's Longspur: Breeds from Alberta and southwestern Manitoba south to Dakotas, Wyoming, and Colorado. Spends winters from Nebraska and Colorado southward. Found in shortgrass prairies, native grasslands, pastures, and agricultural areas.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.8 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America