Lapland Longspur." (click to return to the Index.)

I found this bird Sept. 24, north of Grande Prairie, Alberta. It seemed injured as it kept running ahead of us on the trail. Finally I grabbed it and we inspected it for injuries. It seemed fine but when I tried to set it on a tree branch, it "flew" down to the ground immediately. We left it there hoping for the best. Sibley's suggests, I think, that it might be a Lapland Longspur.

I put that comment/question on the forum and "Treehawk" replied:

It looks a lot like a female or possibly juvenile Lapland Longspur/ Bunting to me. They normally have a chestnut coloured patch on the back of their neck (maybe thats only males or adults?), it would help a lot if it was facing towards the camera a little bit. Now is the perfect time to be seeing them too. Nice find!