Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii)

New English Names for Birds

July 1, 2024 If you’re new to birding, you might be baffled by names like Couch’s Kingbird, Wilson’s Warbler, and Townsend’s Solitaire. These birds were named in honor of scientists and their friends long ago. But the result is a long list of birds named after white men, many of whom took part in

What's in a Name?

June 1, 2022 Names have power. In North America, more than 100 species of birds have eponymous names, many honoring white colonizers. The “Bird Names for Birds” movement to change these names, or “verbal statues,” can be traced to Ph.D candidate Robert Driver’s 2018 proposal about the Thick-billed

Thick-billed Longspur

May 6, 2022 It can feel like there’s nowhere to hide in the shortgrass prairie. But the Thick-billed Longspur calls this place home. The bird’s burbling song helps create the high plains’ soundscape. The species was formerly named McCown’s Longspur after a Confederate general who participated in

Connectivity

February 11, 2018 Migratory birds connect the Northern Plains with many parts of the Western Hemisphere. Barn and Cliff Swallows, Thick-billed Longspurs, this Lark Bunting, and many other birds winter from Central to southern South America. But their reproduction depends on the bounty of the prairie spring

Montana Grassland Birds - Where They Go in Winter

December 9, 2017 Some of the most extensive grasslands on the continent remain in Northeast Montana. In winter, these lands lie under windblown snow. But in summer, the grass is verdant and grassland birds abound. Birds such as the Thick-billed Longspur (formerly known as McCown's Longspur), the Lark