Overview
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The Longspurs, Calcarius, 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.
The full list of species is:
- McCown's Longspur, Calcarius mccownii
- Lapland Longspur, or Lapland Bunting, Calcarius lapponicus
- Smith's Longspur, Calcarius pictus
- Chestnut-collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus
Photos
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Taxonomy
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- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Class: Aves
Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
- Subclass: Neornithes
Gadow, 1893
- Infraclass: Neoaves
- Superorder: Passerimorphae
- Order: Passeriformes
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
- Suborder: Passeri
- Parvorder: Passerida
- Superfamily: Passeroidea
- Family: Fringillidae
- Buntings, Finches
- Subfamily: Emberizinae
- Tribe: Emberizini
- Genus: Calcarius - Longspurs
- Tribe: Emberizini
- Subfamily: Emberizinae
- Family: Fringillidae
- Buntings, Finches
- Superfamily: Passeroidea
- Parvorder: Passerida
- Suborder: Passeri
- Order: Passeriformes
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
- Superorder: Passerimorphae
- Infraclass: Neoaves
- Subclass: Neornithes
Gadow, 1893
- Class: Aves
Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Genus Calcarius is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 9 species and subspecies in the Genus Calcarius: C. lapponicus (Lapland Lark Bunting) · C. lapponicus alascensis (Lapland Longspur) · C. lapponicus coloratus · C. lapponicus lapponicus (Lapland Lark Bunting) · C. lapponicus subcalcaratus · C. mccowni · C. mccownii (Rufous-Winged Lark Bunting) · C. ornatus (Chestnut-Collared Longspur) · C. pictus (Smith's Longspur)
Sources
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- The distribution map on the Distribution tab comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is used with permission.
- Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
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