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McKay's Bunting

Plectrophenax hyperboreusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

McKay's Bunting Breeding Male Portrait
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General

McKay's Bunting: Large bunting with bright white body, black wing tips, and black markings on back and tail. Large bill, legs, and feet are black. Female has black-streaked back. Winter adult and juvenile are suffused with orange-brown on heads, sides and backs, and have yellow bills.

Range and Habitat

McKay's Bunting: Breeds on Hall and Saint Matthew islands in Bering Sea. Spends winters east to coast of western Alaska and Nunivak Island. Nests on tundra; found along coastal shores in winter.

Voice Text

"tew"

Interesting Facts

 The McKay's Bunting is one of North America's rarest songbirds, their population is estimated at less than 6,000 individuals.

 At the moment it faces no immediate threats to survival, but given its small population, tiny range, and ground-nesting habits, it may be extremely vulnerable to introduced mammalian predators.

 The name of this bird honours the American naturalist Charles McKay.

 A group of buntings are collectively known as a "decoration", "mural", and "sacrifice" of buntings.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for McKay's Bunting
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Plectrophenax hyperboreus
Length6.25 - 7.25 Inches
Wingspan12.5 Inches

McKay's Bunting

McKay's Bunting: Large bunting, bright white body, black wing tips, black markings on back and tail. Large bill, legs, and feet are black. Said to be the whitest of all North American songbirds. Forages on ground. Swift flight, alternates raping wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "tew"

● Foraging & Feeding: McKay's Bunting: Eats seeds, spiders, flowers, buds, and insects; forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: McKay's Bunting: Three to five pale green eggs with light brown spots are laid in a nest made of grass and lined with finer materials. Incubation ranges from 10 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: McKay's Bunting: Snow Bunting breeding adult has a black or gray back, and more black on wings and tail. Female has a red-brown rump. In winter plumage shows more black on wings and tail, more black streaking on upperparts, and more of a red-brown wash on underparts.

Flight Pattern

Swift flight with series of rapid wing beats alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.
McKay's Bunting Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: McKay's Bunting: Breeds on Hall and Saint Matthew islands in Bering Sea. Spends winters east to coast of western Alaska and Nunivak Island. Nests on tundra; found along coastal shores in winter.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationUncommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.9 Ounces