Chestnut-collared Longspur
(Calcarius ornatus)

Overview

Summary

© Alan MacKeigan
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Chestnut-collared Longspur breeds mainly on native grasslands in the southern prairie provinces, where results from the Breeding Bird Survey indicate it has undergone a large decrease in numbers since about 1970. The decline is largely due to loss and degradation of native grassland habitats (COSEWIC 2009a). In 2009, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed this species as Threatened because of this steep, ongoing population decline (COSEWIC 2009a). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The primary cause of the population decline in the Chestnut-collared Longspur is habitat loss and degradation (Hill and Gould 1997, COSEWIC 2009a). Chestnut-collared Longspurs are area sensitive (Davis 2004) and experience reduced productivity in non-native grasslands (Lloyd and Martin 2005). They prefer native grasslands with well-managed grazing pressure and can tolerate periodic burning and mowing outside the nesting season (Hill and Gould 1997). Heavy grazing can be detrimental to habitat quality (COSEWIC 2009a). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• COSEWIC. 2009a. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Chestnut-collared Longspur Calcarius ornatus, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 36 pp.. COSEWIC. 2009a. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Chestnut-collared Longspur Calcarius ornatus, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 36 pp.. (Link)
• Davis, S.K. 2004. Area sensitivity in grassland passerines: Effects of patch size, patch shape, and vegetation structure on bird abundance and occurrence in southern Saskatchewan. Auk 121: 1130–1145.
• Hill, D.P. and L.K. Gould. 1997. Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Hill, D.P. and L.K. Gould. 1997. Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Lloyd, J.D. and T.E. Martin. 2005. Reproductive success of Chestnut-collared Longspurs in native and exotic grassland. Condor 107:363-374.