Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) | Details

Lark Bunting Calamospiza melanocorys

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Plumage dichromatism and elaborate aerial displays reminiscent of Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) and Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), but not closely related. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	38 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,010,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	2,520,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	12000000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.1 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 12,000,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019).

Trend justification: The species has been undergoing a large decline at an average rate of 3.1% per year between 1970 and 2017 (Partners in Flight 2019). Short-term trends however suggest that the decline has slowed down considerably in recent years and that the population has been stable or even increasing since 2010 (Pardieck et al. 2018). Given the uncertainty surrounding the trend estimate, the species is tentatively considered to be in decline, but the rate of decline is not considered to approach the threshold for Vulnerable over the relevant three generation time periods for this assessment.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Canada	extant	native		yes
Mexico	extant	native			yes
USA	extant	native	yes	yes	yes	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lark Bunting Calamospiza melanocorys. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lark-bunting-calamospiza-melanocorys on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.