The Longspurs, genusCalcarius, are a group of birds in the family Emberizidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot.
These are chunky ground-feeding birds with long wings which are usually seen in open areas. Males declare ownership of a territory by singing during short flights over it. The male's breeding plumage is much brighter than his winter plumage. These birds gather in large flocks in winter. The longspurs are all found in North America; the Lapland Longspur, or Lapland Bunting, is also found in Europe and Asia.
Date : 11/16/2005 Time : 1:59:04 PM Longspurs are any of four species of small, seed-eating birds of the genus Calcarius, in the finch family, Fringillidae, named for their unusually long hind claw.
Longspurs are migratory, ground-nesting birds, about 15 cm (6 in) long, inhabiting open country in North America.
The longspur's upper body plumage is streaked in dead-grass colors, and, in breeding season, the males develop bold markings around the head.
Figures for longspurs and tem- perate species, respectively, are as follows: hatching failure, 5.2 and 5.1%; abandon- ment of eggs, 2.2 and 2.8; starvation of young, 3.7 and 2.2; abandonment of young, 3.7 and 0.7; losses to weather in eggs, 0 and 2.6, and in young, 0.5 and 2.4.
Taking the longspur figure converted to female fledglings per female, the fledgling-to-year 1 survival would have to approximate 75% of the adult survival rate (or 34%) if the population is to be in a near-equilibrium state.
The longspur population at carrying capacity near Barrow has evolved a replacement rate in relation to a spectrum of biotic and abiotic influences in which predation may usually be less important than observed in 1968-73.
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