Snow Bunting
Learn to identify the Snow Bunting by ear. Master the "tli-tli-tli twi-twi-twi chir-chir-chir" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the Snow Bunting sounds like
The Snow Bunting is a hardy, sparrow-sized songbird built for life on wind-scoured Arctic tundra and frozen shorelines. Clad in frosty whites and warm cinnamon tones, it is the northernmost-breeding passerine on the planet. In summer the males wear striking black-and-white plumage as they sing from rocky outcrops; in winter enormous flocks swirl like wind-blown snow across open fields and coastal flats farther south.
“tli-tli-tli twi-twi-twi chir-chir-chir”
How to tell it apart
Where you'll hear it
Breeds circumpolar across high Arctic of North America, Europe and Asia. Winters in temperate latitudes from southern Canada and northern United States across Eurasian steppes.
Open treeless landscapes: Arctic tundra, windswept mountain ridges, coastal dunes, agricultural stubble, frozen lakeshores and prairies.
Migratory. Arrives on breeding grounds shortly after snowmelt (May–June), departs August–September. Winters October–March in open lowlands; forms large nomadic flocks.
Similar species
Lapland Longspur
Has chestnut nape and heavy black chest band in breeding male
McKay’s Bunting
Much whiter overall; limited brown on mantle even in non-breeding plumage