Calcariidae
| Calcariidae | |
|---|---|
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| Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Suborder: | Passeri |
| Family: |
Calcariidae Ridgway, 1901 |
| Genera | |
Calcarius
Plectrophenax
Rhynchophanes
Calcariidae is a small family of passerine birds. It includes longspurs and snow buntings. There are six species in three genera worldwide, found mainly in North America and Eurasia. They are migratory and can live in a variety of habitats including grasslands, prairies, tundra, mountains, and beaches.
Members of Calcariidae range in mass from around 20 grams (0.71 oz) (the chestnut-collared longspur) to around 42 grams (1.5 oz) (McKay's bunting). Species have brown, grey, and white plumage, with dark brown or black irises. The legs of the snow bunting and McKay's bunting are dark gray or black, while legs of other species in the family range from dull pink to brown.
The birds in Calcariidae were formerly assigned to the family Emberizidae (typically known as buntings in the Old World and sparrows in the New World). A 2008 phylogenetic study by Alström and colleagues confirmed that the members of this family form a clade quite separated from the Emberizidae, with affinities instead with the New World warblers (Parulidae), cardinals (Cardinalidae) or tanagers (Thraupidae), though their exact relationships are unclear. They proposed to place them in the tribe Calcariini, but the International Ornithological Congress has placed them in a separate family in 2010. Timing with the cytochrome b DNA suggests that the Calcariidae diverged from a common ancestor around 4.2–6.2 million years ago, around the beginning of the Pliocene, possibly soon after spread of grasslands in North America as the climate in the late Miocene became drier and cooler.
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