Family: Emberizidae, New World Sparrows view all from this family

Description 5 3/4-6" (15 cm). Sparrow-sized. Breeding male streaked above, with black crown, whitish face, and black "mustache"; gray below with bold black band across breast. Female and winter male duller and more streaked; best identified by tail pattern, which is largely white, with central pair of tail feathers black and with narrow black band at tip.

Habitat Arid plains.

Nesting 3 or 4 pale green eggs, spotted with dark brown and black, in a hollow scrape lined with fine grass and hair, on open ground.

Range Breeds from Alberta and southwestern Manitoba south to Dakotas, Wyoming, and Colorado. Winters from Nebraska and Colorado southward.

Voice Dry rattle; also a clear sweet warble given during a fluttering flight with wings raised high over back.

Discussion This 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 grasshoppers, but in fall and winter, when they gather in large flocks with other longspurs and with Horned Larks, they prefer seeds. In winter plumage they can be difficult to distinguish from the other longspurs, but close up they are easily identified by their stouter bill.