Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Lapland Longspur

Calcarius lapponicus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Lapland Longspur

G5Secure Found in 8 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100665
Element CodeABPBXA6020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyCalcariidae
GenusCalcarius
Other Common Names
Bruant lapon (FR) Escribano Ártico (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Zink et al. (1995) found no evidence of genetic differentiation between populations in Asian and North American sides of Beringia.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-06
Change Date1996-12-04
Range Extent Comments
Circumpolar. BREEDS: Alaska, northern Canada (including arctic archipelago), Greenland, northern Eurasia. WINTERS: in North America mainly from southern Canada south to southeastern California, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Maryland (rarely farther south); also in Old World.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Arctic tundra in wet meadows, grassy tussocks and scrub, in migration and winter in weedy and grassy areas, plowed fields and stubble (AOU 1983). Nests on hummocky tundra, often in wet areas. Nests on ground in depression, frequently concealed by surrounding vegetation (Harrison 1978); often on south side of cottongrass tussock or polygon ridge (Johnson and Herter 1989). See also Rodrigues (1994).

Ecology

Often seen in flocks, frequently in association with horned larks, snow buntings, or pipits. Breeding territories 3-8 hectares (Tryon and McLean 1980).

Reproduction

Eggs are laid beginning in early June in coastal areas of Beaufort Sea region. Clutch size is 3-7 (usually 4-6). Incubation, by female, lasts 12-13 days (Terres 1980). Young are tended by both adults, leave nest at 8-10 days, fly at about 12 days. Each adult separately feeds part of brood for 15 days more after nest departure. Males may nate with and assist at nest of more than one female in a season (Johnson and Herter 1989). Breeding density ranges up to 200+ birds per sq km in some areas on northern Alaska (Johnson and Herter 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousTundraCropland/hedgerow
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
AlbertaSUN,S5MYes
QuebecS4BYes
NunavutS5BYes
Nova ScotiaS3N,SUMYes
LabradorS3B,S4MYes
British ColumbiaSUN,S5MYes
ManitobaS3B,S4MYes
Yukon TerritoryS4BYes
OntarioS3B,S4NYes
SaskatchewanS4NYes
New BrunswickS2N,SUMYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
Prince Edward IslandS3N,SUMYes
Island of NewfoundlandSNAYes
United StatesN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
North DakotaSNRNYes
WyomingS5NYes
MontanaSNAYes
MarylandS1NYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
AlaskaS5BYes
GeorgiaS3Yes
Rhode IslandSNAYes
VirginiaS1NYes
LouisianaS4NYes
TennesseeS3NYes
ArizonaS2NYes
WashingtonS3NYes
UtahS3NYes
MinnesotaSNRNYes
MaineS2NYes
WisconsinSNAYes
MissouriSNRNYes
New HampshireSNAYes
IowaS4NYes
CaliforniaSNRNYes
South DakotaS4NYes
OklahomaSNRNYes
New YorkSNRNYes
MassachusettsS4NYes
New MexicoS4NYes
MichiganSNRNYes
North CarolinaS1NYes
IndianaS2NYes
AlabamaS3NYes
VermontS3NYes
OhioSNRNYes
KentuckySNAYes
KansasS5NYes
IllinoisSNAYes
ColoradoS5NYes
IdahoS1NYes
OregonS2NYes
New JerseyS5NYes
ConnecticutSNAYes
TexasS4Yes
ArkansasS4NYes
PennsylvaniaS2NYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

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Roadless Areas (8)
Alaska (8)
AreaForestAcres
Boston BarChugach National Forest53,617
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Mansfield PeninsulaTongass National Forest54,991
RedoubtTongass National Forest68,347
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
Tenakee RidgeTongass National Forest20,527
References (27)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
  6. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  7. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  8. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  9. Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
  10. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  11. McLaughlin, R. L., and R. D. Montgomerie. 1985. Brood division by Lapland longspurs. Auk 102:687-695.
  12. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  13. Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
  14. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  15. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  16. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  17. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  18. Rodrigues, R. 1994. Microhabitat variables influencing nest-site selection by tundra birds. Ecological Applications 4:110-116.
  19. Scott, S. L. 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.
  20. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  21. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  22. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  23. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  24. Tryon, P. R., and S. F. MacLean. 1980. Use of space by Lapland Longspurs breeding in arctic Alaska. Auk 97:509-520.
  25. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  26. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  27. Zink, R. M., S. Rohwer, A. V. Andreev, and D. L. Dittman. 1995. Trans-Beringia comparisons of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in birds. Condor 97:639-649.