McCown's Longspur

Status: Fairy common but has declined.

Habitat/Range: Sparse short-grass plains, plowed and stubble fields and areas of bare or nearly bare ground in south-central Canada, northern North Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, south Montana, southeastern Wyoming, northeastern Colorado and northwestern Nebraska. Non-breeding range is primarily from western Oklahoma, western Kansas, southeastern Arizona and central New Mexico through northwestern Mexico.

Threats: Habitat destruction due to agricultural conversion of native prairie.

Restoration Potential: Keys to management include providing short, sparsely vegetated native grasslands of adequate size. Mixed-grass areas can be made suitable for nesting with moderate to heavy grazing.

Places We Are Protecting:

• Bohart Ranch/ Chico Basin, Colorado
• Cherry Ranch/ Sioux Prairie, Nebraska
• Missouri Coteau, Canada
• Bitter Creek, Montana/ Grasslands National Park, Canada

Learn More:
View a species management abstract for this bird.

Illustrations by David Allen Sibley from The National Audubon Society: The Sibley Guide to Birds published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. Copyright © 2000 by Chanticleer Press and David Allen Sibley. No illustrations may be copied, reproduced, or reused without the express written permission of the copyright holders.