Snow Bunting
Plectrophenax nivalis
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) is a common longspurs and snow bunting found in 48 countries, weighing about 42 g. The snow bunting is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae.
About the Snow Bunting
The snow bunting is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few high mountain tops south of the Arctic region, including the Cairngorms in central Scotland and the Saint Elias Mountains on the southern Alaska-Yukon border, as well as the Cape Breton Highlands. The snow bunting is the most northerly recorded passerine in the world.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The snow bunting is a sexually dimorphic, medium-sized passerine bird. It is ground-dwelling, and walks, runs and can hop if needed. It is fairly large and long-winged for a bunting. It measures 15 cm with a wingspan of 32–38 cm (13–15 in) and weights 30 to 40 grams. The bill is normally yellow with a black tip, however in males, the bill is all black in the summer. The plumage is white underneath and the wings and back have black and white on them. Voice: The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, per,r,r,rit, and the song is a brief but loud warble hudidi feet feet feew hudidi. Snow buntings use vocalizations to communicate among each other and males will have a song to attract the female.
What the Snow Bunting sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Mongolia, Guernsey, Luxembourg.
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, June, October, November, December, with peak activity in November. It is a winter visitor species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Snow Bunting?
- The snow bunting is a sexually dimorphic, medium-sized passerine bird. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Snow Bunting?
- The Snow Bunting is a small sized bird weighing about 42 g.
- Where can you see a Snow Bunting?
- The Snow Bunting occurs in 48 countries, including the United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom.
- What does a Snow Bunting sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Snow Bunting on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Snow Bunting?
- The Snow Bunting is most easily confused with the McKay's Bunting.
- Is the Snow Bunting endangered?
- The Snow Bunting is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Snow Bunting for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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