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Thick-billed longspur
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Calcariidae
Genus:	Rhynchophanes Baird, 1858
Species:	R. mccownii
Binomial name
Rhynchophanes mccownii (Lawrence, 1851)
Breeding  Migration  Nonbreeding

The thick-billed longspur, also known as McCown's longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), is a small ground-feeding bird in the family Calcariidae, which also contains the other longspurs and snow buntings. It is found in North America and is the only species in the genus Rhynchophanes.

Taxonomy

The thick-billed longspur was described in 1851 by the American amateur ornithologist George Newbold Lawrence under the English name rufous-winged lark bunting. He placed it in the genus Plectrophanes and coined the binomial name Plectrophanes mccownii. It was moved into its own genus Rhynchophanes in 1858 by Spencer Baird on account of its bill size and short spur, but was moved to Calcarius after a hybrid with the chestnut-collared longspur was discovered. It was once again placed in its own genus after a 2003 genetic study found it was more closely related to the snow buntings than the other longspurs.

"McCown's longspur" is no longer used by the American Ornithological Society, instead being changed to "thick-billed longspur", a literal translation of its genus name, Rhynchophanes. The name change was announced after the most recent updates of the Clements and International Ornithological Congress taxonomies, the latter of which still uses "McCown's longspur". The IOC has followed suit with the name change.

The name "McCown" refers to Captain John P. McCown, an American army officer who collected the specimen in 1851 that led to the species first being scientifically described. McCown later fought for the Confederacy, which led to controversy starting in 2018, with parallels drawn to the removal of Confederate memorials. The pressure to change the name increased following the George Floyd protests and Black Birder's Week (itself a response to the Central Park birdwatching incident).

Description

The thick-billed longspur is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, has a wingspan of 28 cm (11 in) and weighs around 25 g (0.88 oz). It has a large cone-shaped bill, a streaked back, a rust-coloured shoulder and a white tail with a dark tip. In breeding plumage, the male has a white throat and underparts, a grey face and nape and a black crown. Breeding females are largely gray, with a pale bill and rusty tinged median coverts and scapulars. Non-breeding males are similar to females but with crowns spotted rather than streaked, and more chestnut on their median coverts and scapulars.

Juveniles are seen briefly in late summer and are more uniformly sandy, with a streaked upper breast and white belly.

Distribution and habitat

Thick-billed longspurs breed in the northwestern Great Plains states and southern Prairie Provinces. They prefer the sparsely vegetated habitat of the semi-arid shortgrass steppes, which provide a mix of perennial shortgrasses and cacti. The breeding range of thick-billed longspurs has drastically reduced; historically, it stretched farther south into Oklahoma, and east into Minnesota and Manitoba.

Their non-breeding range stretches from south Oklahoma into Texas and Northern Mexico. Here, they prefer open habitats with sparse vegetation such as shortgrass prairie, plowed fields, grazed pastures and dried lake beds.

Behavior

The male produces a distinctive tinkling song, often in flight. The calls include a dry rattle.

Nests are constructed in a shallow depression on the ground, and incubate the eggs for about 12 days. Both parents feed the young, and fledglings leave the nest about 10 days after hatching, before they can properly fly. Outside the breeding season, thick-billed longspurs occur in flocks, sometimes with other species like Lapland longspur and horned lark.

The diet consists of seeds and insects.

Conservation

The numbers and range of these birds have declined since the early 1900s, likely due to habitat loss.

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Rhynchophanes mccownii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22721025A94695247. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721025A94695247.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Lawrence, George Newbold (1851). "Descriptions of new species of birds, of the genera Toxostoma Wagler, Tyrannula Swainson, and Plectrophanes Meyer". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 5: 121–123 . doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1852.tb00121.x.
3. Baird, Spencer F. (1858). Reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practical and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean made under the direction of the secretary of war in 1853-1856. Vol. 9 Birds. Washington: Beverly Tucker, printer. pp. xx, xxxviii, 432.
4. Klicka, John; Zink, Robert M.; Winke, K. (2003). "Longspurs and snow buntings: phylogeny and biogeography of a high-latitude clade (Calcarius)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 26 (2): 165–75. Bibcode:2003MolPE..26..165K. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00360-3. PMID 12565028.
5. Chesser, R Terry; Banks, Richard C; Barker, F Keith; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L; Kratter, Andrew W; Lovette, Irby J; Rasmussen, Pamela C; Remsen, JV Jr; Rising, James D; Stotz, Douglas F; Winker, Kevin (2010). "Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds". The Auk. 127 (3): 726–744. doi:10.1525/auk.2010.127.4.966.
6. ^ "A Bird Named for a Confederate General Sparks Calls for Change". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
7. "2020 Proposals". American Ornithological Society. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
8. Chesser, R.T.; Billerman, S.M.; Burns, K.J.; Cicero, C.; Dunn, J.L.; Kratter, A.W.; Lovette, I.J.; Mason, N.A.; Rasmussen, P.C.; Remsen, J.V.J.; Stotz, D.F.; Winker, K. (2021). "Addendum to the Sixty-first Supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds". Ornithology. 138 (1). doi:10.1093/ornithology/ukaa074.
9. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Finches, euphonias, longspurs, Thrush-tanager". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
10. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. p. 224.
11. Lewis, Zachary. "A small bird sheds its Confederate past with a new name". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
12. "Wyoming Species Account" (PDF). September 28, 2020.
13. ^ With, K.A. (2021). Poole, A.F. (ed.). "Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), version 1.1". Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.mcclon.01.1. S2CID 240904071. Retrieved 3 December 2022.

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Calcariidae
• Native birds of the Canadian Prairies
• Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
• Birds described in 1851
• Taxa named by George Newbold Lawrence
• Name changes due to the George Floyd protests