Calcarius ornatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus) is a species of bird in the family Calcariidae. Like the other longspurs, it is a small ground-feeding bird that primarily eats seeds. It breeds in prairie habitats in Canada and the northern United States and winters to the south in the United States and Mexico.
These birds have a short conical bill, a streaked back and a white tail with a dark tip. In breeding plumage, the male has black underparts, a chestnut nape, a yellow throat and a black crown. Other birds have light brown underparts, a dark crown, brown wings and may have some chestnut on the nape.
Measurements: Length: 5.1–6.5 in (13–16.5 cm) Weight: 0.6–0.8 oz (17–23 g) Wingspan: 25–27 cm This bird breeds in short and mixed grass prairies in central Canada and the north central United States. In winter, they migrate in flocks to prairies and open fields in the southern United States and Mexico. Like other prairie birds, they have disappeared from some areas because of habitat loss but are still fairly common.
Controlled burns may benefit this species as they feed on low-growing plants that are more easily spotted after a fire... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-collared Longspur sighting in Badlands National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 99th most-seen of the 120 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-collared Longspur in Badlands National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months. That is one of Badlands National Park's wettest months, with about 55 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chestnut-collared Longspur sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Badlands National Park, in our data
Badlands National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Chestnut-collared Longspur sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Chestnut-collared Longspur that you can see in Badlands National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Western Meadowlark (about 90%), Rock Wren (about 70%) and Cliff Swallow (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut-collared Longspur is recorded against all the birds logged in Badlands National Park (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
