Thick-billed Longspur

The thick-billed longspur is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, has a wingspan of 28 cm (11 in) and weighs around 25 g (0.88 oz). It has 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. Breeding females are largely gray, with a pale bill and rusty tinged median coverts and scapulars. Non-breeding males are similar to females but with crowns spotted rather than streaked, and more chestnut on their median coverts and scapulars. Juveniles are seen briefly in late summer and are more uniformly sandy, with a streaked upper breast and white belly.

Thick-billed longspurs breed in the northwestern Great Plains states and southern Prairie Provinces. They prefer the sparsely vegetated habitat of the semi-arid shortgrass steppes, which provide a mix of perennial shortgrasses and cacti. The breeding range of thick-billed longspurs has drastically reduced; historically, it stretched farther south into Oklahoma, and east into Minnesota and Manitoba. Their non-breeding range stretches from south Oklahoma into Texas and Northern Mexico. Here, they prefer open habitats with sparse vegetation such as shortgrass prairie, plowed fields, grazed pastures and dried lake beds.

The male produces a distinctive tinkling song, often in flight. The calls include a dry rattle. Nests are constructed in a shallow depression on the ground, and incubate the eggs for about 12 days. Both parents feed the young, and fledglings leave the nest about 10 days after hatching, before they can properly fly. Outside the breeding season, thick-billed longspurs occur in flocks, sometimes with other species like Lapland longspur and horned lark. The diet consists of seeds and insects.