Snow Bunting
Encyclopedia
The Snow Bunting sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine
bird
in the longspur
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, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
.
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine
bird
in the longspur
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, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
.
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine
bird
in the longspur
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, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the longspur
Longspur
The Longspurs, genus Calcarius, are a group of birds in the family Calcariidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot. The genus formerly included the McCown's Longspur, Rhyncophanes mccownii, which is now placed in a separate genus.These are chunky ground-feeding birds with...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Calcariidae
Calcariidae
The Calcariidae -commonly known as longspurs or snow buntings- are a small family of passerine birds. There are 3 genera and 6 species worldwide.- Taxonomy :...
. It is an arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
specialist, with a circumpolar
Circumpolar
The term circumpolar may refer to:* circumpolar navigation: to travel the world "vertically" traversing both of the poles* Antarctic region** Antarctic Circle** the Antarctic Circumpolar Current** Subantarctic** List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands...
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
Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
in central Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Saint Elias Mountains
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...
on the southern Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
-Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
border, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
Characteristics
It is fairly large and long-winged for a bunting, 15–18 cm long and with a wingspan of 32–38 cm, and weighing 26–50 g. In flight, it is easily identified by its large white wing patches. The breeding male is unmistakable, with all white plumage and a black back; the breeding female is grey-black where the male is solid black. In winter plumage, both sexes are mottled pale ginger, blackish and white above, and pale ginger and white below, with the males having more white than the females. The bill is yellow with a black tip, all black in summer males. Unlike most passerines, it has feathered tarsi, an adaptation to its harsh environment. No other passerine can winter as far north as this species apart from the Common RavenCommon Raven
The Common Raven , also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids...
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
- Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. Arctic Europe, Arctic North America. Head white, rump mostly black with a small area of white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis insulae. Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland. Head white with a blackish collar, rump black.
- Plectrophenax nivalis vlasowae. Arctic Asia. Head white, rump mostly white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis townsendi. Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, coastal far eastern Siberia. As vlasowae, but slightly larger.
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is most closely related to the Snow Bunting . Hybrids between the two species have been observed, leading some authorities to treat McKay's as a subspecies of Snow Bunting...
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
External links
- Snow Bunting Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Stamps (with world range map)
- Snow Bunting videos, photographs and sound recordings on the Internet Bird Collection
- ARKive Images
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the longspur
Longspur
The Longspurs, genus Calcarius, are a group of birds in the family Calcariidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot. The genus formerly included the McCown's Longspur, Rhyncophanes mccownii, which is now placed in a separate genus.These are chunky ground-feeding birds with...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Calcariidae
Calcariidae
The Calcariidae -commonly known as longspurs or snow buntings- are a small family of passerine birds. There are 3 genera and 6 species worldwide.- Taxonomy :...
. It is an arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
specialist, with a circumpolar
Circumpolar
The term circumpolar may refer to:* circumpolar navigation: to travel the world "vertically" traversing both of the poles* Antarctic region** Antarctic Circle** the Antarctic Circumpolar Current** Subantarctic** List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands...
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
Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
in central Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Saint Elias Mountains
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...
on the southern Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
-Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
border, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
Characteristics
It is fairly large and long-winged for a bunting, 15–18 cm long and with a wingspan of 32–38 cm, and weighing 26–50 g. In flight, it is easily identified by its large white wing patches. The breeding male is unmistakable, with all white plumage and a black back; the breeding female is grey-black where the male is solid black. In winter plumage, both sexes are mottled pale ginger, blackish and white above, and pale ginger and white below, with the males having more white than the females. The bill is yellow with a black tip, all black in summer males. Unlike most passerines, it has feathered tarsi, an adaptation to its harsh environment. No other passerine can winter as far north as this species apart from the Common RavenCommon Raven
The Common Raven , also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids...
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
- Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. Arctic Europe, Arctic North America. Head white, rump mostly black with a small area of white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis insulae. Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland. Head white with a blackish collar, rump black.
- Plectrophenax nivalis vlasowae. Arctic Asia. Head white, rump mostly white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis townsendi. Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, coastal far eastern Siberia. As vlasowae, but slightly larger.
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is most closely related to the Snow Bunting . Hybrids between the two species have been observed, leading some authorities to treat McKay's as a subspecies of Snow Bunting...
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
External links
- Snow Bunting Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Stamps (with world range map)
- Snow Bunting videos, photographs and sound recordings on the Internet Bird Collection
- ARKive Images
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the longspur
Longspur
The Longspurs, genus Calcarius, are a group of birds in the family Calcariidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot. The genus formerly included the McCown's Longspur, Rhyncophanes mccownii, which is now placed in a separate genus.These are chunky ground-feeding birds with...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Calcariidae
Calcariidae
The Calcariidae -commonly known as longspurs or snow buntings- are a small family of passerine birds. There are 3 genera and 6 species worldwide.- Taxonomy :...
. It is an arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
specialist, with a circumpolar
Circumpolar
The term circumpolar may refer to:* circumpolar navigation: to travel the world "vertically" traversing both of the poles* Antarctic region** Antarctic Circle** the Antarctic Circumpolar Current** Subantarctic** List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands...
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
Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
in central Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Saint Elias Mountains
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...
on the southern Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
-Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
border, and also Cape Breton Highlands.
Characteristics
It is fairly large and long-winged for a bunting, 15–18 cm long and with a wingspan of 32–38 cm, and weighing 26–50 g. In flight, it is easily identified by its large white wing patches. The breeding male is unmistakable, with all white plumage and a black back; the breeding female is grey-black where the male is solid black. In winter plumage, both sexes are mottled pale ginger, blackish and white above, and pale ginger and white below, with the males having more white than the females. The bill is yellow with a black tip, all black in summer males. Unlike most passerines, it has feathered tarsi, an adaptation to its harsh environment. No other passerine can winter as far north as this species apart from the Common RavenCommon Raven
The Common Raven , also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids...
.
The call is a distinctive rippling whistle, "per,r,r,rit" and the typical Plectrophenax warble "hudidi feet feet feew hudidi".
It builds its bulky nest in rock crevices. The eggs are blue-green, spotted brown, and hatch in 12–13 days, and the young are already ready to fly after a further 12–14 days.
There are four subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, which differ slightly in the plumage pattern of breeding males:
- Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. Arctic Europe, Arctic North America. Head white, rump mostly black with a small area of white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis insulae. Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland. Head white with a blackish collar, rump black.
- Plectrophenax nivalis vlasowae. Arctic Asia. Head white, rump mostly white.
- Plectrophenax nivalis townsendi. Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, coastal far eastern Siberia. As vlasowae, but slightly larger.
It is very closely related to the Beringian McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting
McKay's Bunting is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is most closely related to the Snow Bunting . Hybrids between the two species have been observed, leading some authorities to treat McKay's as a subspecies of Snow Bunting...
, which differs in having even more white in the plumage. Hybrids between the two occur in Alaska, and they have been considered conspecific by some authors, though they are generally treated as separate species.
The species is not endangered at present, with good populations. It shows little fear of humans, and often nests around buildings in Arctic areas, readily feeding on grain or other scraps put out for it.
The breeding habitat is on tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
, treeless moors, and bare mountains. It is migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering a short distance further south in open habitats in northern temperate areas, typically on either sandy coasts, steppes, prairies, or low mountains, more rarely on farmland stubble. In winter, it forms mobile flocks. During the last ice age, the Snow Bunting was widespread throughout continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
External links
- Snow Bunting Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Stamps (with world range map)
- Snow Bunting videos, photographs and sound recordings on the Internet Bird Collection
- ARKive Images