Winter 2000

[TEXT ARCHIVE WEB-PUBLISHED MARCH 2002.
ORIGINAL PRINT PUBLICATION DATE: WINTER 2000.]

Snow buntings: Living Snowflakes on Shorelines and Grasslands

By Caroline Arden Malkins

Several inches of heavy snow fall one winter evening on rural fields near Glacial Park in McHenry County. In the morning, a flock of whitish finch-like birds with tawny capped heads and spotted cheeks bathe in the snow and interject chatty trills. When they fly to a field to seek seeds buried in the snow, their large white wing patches confirm their identity. These are snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis), aptly named because they breed in the inhospitable Arctic tundra, but come to the Chicago Wilderness region in winter where they are completely at home in the cold, snowy climate.

The snow bunting breeds farther north than any other land bird, building nests of mosses and sedges on stony beaches and grassy tundras in the Arctic. The female must hide her nest well, in crevices or mosses to avoid predators such as Arctic foxes and snowy owls. Winter comes early to the Arctic. The cold kills the grasses and sedges, and when the last of the seeds have been plucked by snow buntings and other animals, these birds must fly south to find food.

The journey is treacherous; snow buntings are sometimes one step ahead of a blizzard, sometimes one step behind. By time they reach the Chicago Wilderness region, the brisk wind is signaling winter's arrival.

But snow buntings welcome the snow. On extremely cold nights, they sink as low as possible into the snow to keep their legs and feet from getting exposed to the air. Even when temperatures fall below zero, snow can provide insulation to the buntings, which can withstand temperatures of minus 40° F.

Birders start seeing snow buntings in the Chicago Wilderness region sometime in October. Look in rural grasslands, fields, and along the Lake Michigan shoreline for a light-colored, sparrow-sized bird with a short, conical bill, feeding on the ground in small flocks. Its mottled white, brown and tawny colorations blend in well with the snowy grasslands. Listen, too, for its distinctive flight call.

At the end of October, birders counted 100 snow buntings at Winthrop Harbor along the Lake Michigan shoreline. A week earlier, birders saw some 50 buntings at the North Point Marina in Waukegan Harbor. In winter, you may find snow buntings in fields at Fermilab in DuPage County, along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Montrose Harbor, at Illinois Beach State Park in Lake County, along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and along the roadsides near fields in rural areas, especially in McHenry and Kane Counties, among other places.

Truly a bird of the Chicago Wilderness in winter, the snow bunting typically does not go much farther south than central Illinois. Usually only two or three snow buntings are counted south of the Chicago region during the annual Christmas Bird Count. Flocks of dozens to about 100 are counted on Christmas Bird Counts in the western portions of the Chicago region. Snow buntings are also numerous during counts in central Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Canadian provinces.

The buntings molt their buff and white winter plumage when they leave this region in late winter to journey north. By the time they have arrived at the treeless tundra to breed where daylight is continuous, they are wearing deeply contrasting black and white plumages.