 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
Click for a larger version or to add map overlays |
||
Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
|
Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
|
-5.09 (-6.86 - -3.54)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atlas Results
Chestnut-collared Longspurs were predominantly observed in the Mixed Grass ecoregion, as well as in parts of the Cypress Uplands and the southern Moist Mixed Grassland. They were also found in three locations in the southern Aspen Parkland: the Spy Hill-Ellice Community Pasture, south of Broadview, and the far southeastern corner of the province. As a species that inhabits well-grazed grasslands, over 97% of the 718 point-count locations where Chestnut-collared Longspurs were detected fell within 250 metres of grassland habitat dominated by native species. They were most commonly encountered in the extreme southwest where the largest swaths of contiguous native grassland remain. Nests containing eggs were found as early as 22 May and as late as 16 July.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
A male Chestnut-collared Longspur, circling and undulating, ascends to a height of 10 to 15 m; then, while slowly descending with fluttering wings and spread tail, it sings its pleasing song. This longspur is a short-distance migrant that breeds on the northern Great Plains and winters on dry grasslands and deserts from northern Arizona east to southern Kansas, and south to northern Mexico and southern Texas (AOU 1998).
The Chestnut-collared Longspur favours moderately- to heavily-grazed pastures; hayland, summerfallow, and cropland are occasionally used (Belcher 1980, Smith 1996, Davis et al. 1999, McMaster and Davis 2001, McMaster et al. 2005). Chestnut-collared Longspurs show a preference for flatter areas devoid of woody vegetation, reduced amounts of standing dead vegetation, and relatively short (under 20 cm) grass interspersed with patches of bare ground (Dale 1983, Davis 2005).
As recent as the late 1960s, the Chestnut-collared Longspur was a common summer resident in the grassland and adjacent aspen parkland regions, north to Grill Lake, Saskatoon, Quill Lakes, Sheho, Yorkton, and Moosomin, and a very rare and local summer resident in the southern boreal region (Smith 1996). Since about 1990 the species has declined drastically in the northern and eastern portions of its range, and it is now rare or absent in the Rosetown-Biggar, Saskatoon, Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, and Yorkton areas.
Original text by Daniel J. Sawatzky and Stephen K. Davis. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Chestnut-collared Longspur in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Chestnut-collared Longspur in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=CCLO&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
| Previous species: American Goldfinch | Table of Contents | Next species: Thick-billed Longspur |