BIRD OF THE MONTH - Snow Bunting

March 2026 - Snow Bunting

Snow Buntings have several plumages, but they always show white inner wings with black wingtips and a black-and-white tail. Breeding males are sharp white with a black back. Breeding females are whitish overall with a brown, streaky back and a dusky head. Nonbreeding males are white below with rusty patches on the crown, ear, and shoulder with dark streaks down the back.

Snow Buntings spend the summer in the arctic tundra, nesting in rocky areas and foraging in patches of sedges and other vegetation. In the winter they use open fields, croplands with grain stubble, shorelines, and roadsides. They are ground dwellers, walking or running to find seeds and insects.

Male Snow Buntings head to their high arctic breeding grounds when the ground is still covered in snow and temperatures can dip to -22° F. That doesn't seem like a good time to arrive, but males need to arrive early to make sure they get one of the limited nesting spots in a rock crevice. Females join them 3 to 4 weeks later when things start to warm up.

Male Snow Buntings sing a finch like low and husky warble and sing in flight or while perched on a rock. Medium distance migrant and they sometimes form flocks with Longspurs.