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Breeding Range. (Fig. 185). Abundant on the Coteau Slope and Missouri Slope; fairly common (locally abundant) on the Northwestern Drift Plain and Missouri Coteau; uncommon (locally common) on the Northeastern Drift Plain, Southern Drift Plain, Little Missouri Slope, and in the northern half of the Agassiz Lake Plain Region; rare (uncommon locally) in the southern half of the Agassiz Lake Plain Region.

The former great abundance of this species when pristine prairie habitat conditions prevailed has been attested to by many pioneering ornithologists including Abbott (1916), Allen (1874), Bent (1901a), Bishop (1935), Coues (1874), Currie (1892), Grinnell (1875), and Judd (1917). Unfortunately, since the advent of agriculture during the late 1800's, vast acreages of native prairie have been destroyed and replaced by croplands. As a result, breeding populations of Chestnut-collared Longspurs have been greatly reduced, particularly throughout the drift plains, and to a lesser extent elsewhere.

Breeding Habitat. The optimum and more extensive breeding habitats in North Dakota are represented by tracts of grazed or hayed mixed-grass prairie (or mixed-grass--short-grass prairie ecotone) that are dominated by a mixture of species including blue grama, prairie junegrass, needle-and-thread, western wheatgrass, needleleaf sedge, and fringed sage. Other natural habitats that are frequently occupied include short-grass prairie that is dominated by blue grama, needleleaf sedge, threadleaf sedge, and spikemoss; and grazed, brackish or subsaline wet-meadow zones of ponds and lakes that are dominated by saltgrass and wild barley.

Among disturbance habitats created by man, mowed hayfields and heavily grazed pastures (alfalfa, smooth brome, and intermediate wheatgrass) are often quite attractive to this species. More limited, rather sparse populations also occur on stubble fields (wheat, flax, corn, etc.), on fallow or bare cultivated fields, on croplands with sprout growth of small grain, and on retired cropland with an established thin planting of crested wheatgrass. In eastern North Dakota, local breeding populations also occur on mowed airplane landing strips (Hibbard 1965).

Nesting. Breeding season: Late April to early August; peak, early May to mid-July. Extreme egg dates (83 nests): May 6 [1964] in Stutsman County (H. A. Kantrud) to July 25 [1974] in Kidder County (RES). Extreme nestling dates (14 nests); May 14 [1969] to July 26 [1974] in Kidder County (RES). Extreme dates of dependent young out of the nest (17 records). May 20 [1969] in Logan County (RES) to August 2 [1895] in Kidder County (A. K. Fisher).

Nests are nestled within small depressions on the ground in rather sparse herbaceous vegetative cover. Indicated clutch size (45 nests): 3 to 6 eggs; mean, 4.2 eggs. Nests of the Chestnut-collared Longspur are frequently parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird. Out of a total of 62 nests with eggs, 14 (23%) contained cowbird eggs.

Figure 185. Breeding Range of Chestnut-collared Longspur.

Left Photo: Male Chestnut-collared Longspur ready to feed nestlings. Kidder County, July 1974 (photo by John T. Lokemoen).