Other Scientific Names
Calcarius mccownii [BirdLife International (2004, 2008)], Calcarius mccownii [Stotz et al. (1996)], Calcarius mccownii [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)]
Other Names (World)
McCown's Longspur, Thick-billed Longspur
Breeds from southern Canada (south-eastern Alberta and south-central Saskatchewan) southern in USA to central Montana, extreme south-eastern Idaho, eastern Wyoming, north-eastern Colorado and north-western Nebraska. Winters in south-eastern California (rare), central and south-eastern Arizona, central New Mexico, west-central Kansas and central Oklahoma and western and south-central Texas, and northern Mexico (south to northern Durango, occasionally Zacatecas).
 
Population
Estimated population is 1,100,000 (2010).
Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii) [XC371736]
by from Kevin Rim, Toole County, Montana, United States (call, song)
Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii) [XC153627]
by Thomas Magarian from Van Tassel Rd by Nebraska state line, Torrington, Wyoming, United States (call, flight call, song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Sometimes placed in genus Calcarius, and has hybridized with Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), but apparently is closer in affinities to Plectrophanax. Has been suggested that those two genera be placed with present genus in a separate family, Calcariidae.