Home Log Out
Birdpedia - Australia         | Home | Birds | Calendar | Reserves | Field Trips | Sightings | Reports | Contacts | [HBW - BirdLife (v3)] 29/03/2024 07:20:02 PM
Species Database
Find
Quick Links
News
 
Species Details [Taxonomy: HBW - BirdLife (v3)] Print... Email... 

 LC    Snow Bunting* Id (Atlas):
    Plectrophenax nivalis

Description (10)
Image of Snow Bunting (Winter)
 

Family
Calcariidae (Longspurs)

Size
16 - 17 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Habitat
Tundra.

Range (Guide)
Austria (NB), Bahamas, Belarus (NB), Belgium (NB), Bermuda, Bulgaria (NB), Canada (P), China (mainland), Czech Republic (NB), Denmark (NB) (P), Estonia (NB), Faroe Islands (B) (NB), Finland (B) (NB) (P), France (NB), Germany (NB) (P), Greenland (B) (NB), Hungary (NB), Iceland (B) (NB), Ireland, Italy (NB), Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia (NB), Lithuania (NB), Netherlands Antilles (NB), Norway (B), Poland (NB) (P), Portugal (NB), Romania (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (NB), Russia (European) (B), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (NB), Slovenia (NB), South Korea, Spain (NB), St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (NB), Switzerland, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine (NB), United Kingdom (B) (NB), USA (B).

Vagrant to Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, North Korea, Serbia, Turkey.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 40,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Seeds and invertebrates.

Voice
Tinkling calls. Song, a rapid trill, uttered in flight or from a perch.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (431)...)

 
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) [XC691516]
     by Chris Batty from Landsort, Nyn\u00e4shamn Municipality, Stockholms l\u00e4n, Sweden (nocturnal flight call)

 
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) [XC687466]
     by Irish Wildlife Sounds from Tory Island, County Donegal, County Donegal, Ireland (flight call)

Nest
A cup of grass, moss and lichen, lined with hair, wool and feathers, usually in a rock crevice.

Eggs (Guide)
4 - 6; off-white, with brown blotches.

Subspecies
Molecular studies indicate that genus is closely related to Calcarius, and also appears to be a sister-taxon to Rhynchophanes; has been suggested that these three genera be placed in a separate family, Calcariidae. Often considered conspecific with McKay's Bunting (Plectrophenax hyperboreus), but juvenile plumages differ. Also, interbreeding between the two is minimal, latter arriving on restricted breeding grounds earlier and apparently occupying most/all of suitable breeding sites. Geographical variation not well understood and complicated by high degree of individual variation. Ranges listed are tentative, and a review desirable. Nominate subspecies intergrades with townsendi in eastern Aleutian Is.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

  • nivalis (Linnaeus, 1758)   -  Breeds in northern North America from St Lawrence I and coast of Alaska (including eastern Aleutian Is) eastern across northern Canada (south to northern Yukon, north-western Mackenzie, central Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, Southampton I, Belcher Is, northern Quebec and northern Labrador) to coasts of Greenland, and northern Scotland, Svalbard, and mountains of western and northern Fennoscandia east to Kola Peninsula. Non-breeding from south-western Alaska and southern Canada (north-western British Columbia east to Manitoba, Ontario, southern Labrador and Newfoundland) southern in USA to north-western California, Utah, northern New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio and Virginia (occasionally farther southern on Atlantic coast) and, in Palearctic, British Is and northern France east to southern Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and southern European Russia (occasionally south to Mediterranean and east to Asia Minor).
  • insulae Salomonsen, 1931   -  Iceland, possibly also northern Scotland. Non-breeding occasionally south to Faeroe Is and Shetland Is.
  • vlasowae Portenko, 1937   -  Breeds north-eastern European Russia east through Siberia (including Severnaya Zemlya, New Siberian Is and Wrangel I) to Bering Strait and south to northern Shelekhova Gulf and eastern Kamchatka. Non-breeding in central and eastern Asia south to northern Caspian region, Altai, Mongolia, Transbaikalia, north-eastern China, Sakhalin I, Kuril Is, occasionally to northern Japan (Hokkaido) and Korea.
  • townsendi Ridgway, 1887   -  Commander Is, Pribilofs, and Aleutian Is.



References
See References.

The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7


Files:
JPG files for Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) - 10 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Snow Bunting see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


Articles about the Snow Bunting

If you would like to read any articles about the Snow Bunting... Show Articles Show Articles (0)


No Pictures of Snow Bunting

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Snow Bunting or you would like to see more, then try the following...

      Show External Images from BING From BING (6)


No Videos of Snow Bunting

If Birdpedia has no videos of Snow Bunting or you would like to see more, then try the following..

      Show External Videos From BING (0)