Longspur? ID help please

[Julie Brown]

Sorry for the poor image quality. Taken 5/23/09 at Eldorado Canyon State Park, just south of Boulder, Colorado. On second look at Sibley, the size of that bill makes me now think it is a black-headed grosbeak. First summer male?

[Julie Brown]

Here is another look at its wing bars and the back of its head. This is all I have since I only got 3 frames.

[Dan Brown]

Hi Julie. I think this is a Black-headed Grosbeak.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Julie. I think this is a Black-headed Grosbeak.

Thanks Dan. I first thought Smith's Longspur, but that was wishful thinking.

[Paul Guris]

The fact that it is sitting in a pile of branches with leaves is the first indication that it's probably not a longspur. Longspurs are birds of open ground. Agreed that this is a Black-headed Grosbeak. You can even see part of the large beak in the first photo.

[Julie Brown]

The fact that it is sitting in a pile of branches with leaves is the first indication that it's probably not a longspur. Longspurs are birds of open ground. Agreed that this is a Black-headed Grosbeak. You can even see part of the large beak in the first photo.

Thanks Paul.

When I realized that the bird's large bill belonged to a grosbeak, I tried to change the title of the thread. I have only seen this bird once before-in California.

Does this mean that you will never see a longspur in a tree? I have been wanting to go out into the country to look for longspurs and horned larks. Do you have any suggestions for finding, approaching, or photographing them?

[Declan Troy]

As the saying goes, never say never but more likely than not you will not see them in trees. That is unless you are ok with really small "trees" like the stunted versions on the tundra.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ghlight=declan

Down where you are they will be open-country birds in flocks often with snow buntings or horned larks. Some of the places they hang out are pretty barren looking but as long as there are seeds they are content. In some areas farmers spread manure on fields and this can serve as an attractant as it can be a good source of seeds. You may just have to resort to cruising around looking for flocks of buntings and hope for the best.

Now they will occasionally land in trees, in the winter sometimes flocks just do it but don't plan on it. In summer longspurs will sometimes perch on trees or shrubs but most places they breed there are none available (Smith's Longspurs are a treeline species so scattered trees are more frequently found where they breed than is the case for Lapland; I haven't been around those prairie species during breeding). If you are lucky you will find an area they are frequenting and then discover a feeder they happen to have in their circuit.

[Paul Guris]

I think Declan nailed everything, and being in Anchorage probably has a lot more first-hand longspur experience than I do. In our area we only get Lapland (other than ultra-rarities), but we search for them in very open and very short grass or no grass fields or in dunes along the beach. They are usually found with Horned Larks and/or Snow Buntings. The tip about the manure is a good one.

Another trick is to drive into farm areas right after a covering snow or when fields are heavily covered but roadside are thawing out. If you're lucky, you can find exposed ground along the road edge and get closer to the birds than normal.