BC Conservation Data Centre: Conservation Status Report
Calcarius pictus
Smith's Longspur
| Scientific Name: | Calcarius pictus |
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| English Name: | Smith's Longspur |
| Provincial Status Summary | |
| Status: | S2S3B |
| Date Status Assigned: | April 15, 2025 |
| Date Last Reviewed: | April 15, 2025 |
| Reasons: | Known from a few localities in British Columbia, but very likely more widespread. Much of this area is inaccessible. Few threats are known, although rapid willow growth, likely caused by climate change, has eliminated one known breeding site and will potentially change the amount of available habitat. |
| Range | |
| Range Extent: | F = 20,000-200,000 square km |
| Range Extent Estimate (km2): | 113,444 |
| Range Extent Comments: | The Smith's Longspur has bred locally in the Chilkat Pass area of extreme northwestern British Columbia. Indirect evidence, including fledged young and territorial males, indicate that it also breeds locally in the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park (Martin et al. 1981, Fraser 2015h). There are additional records during the breeding season from Mt. Edziza (Campbell et al. 2001), the Cassiar Mountains east of Swift River, the Caribou Range east of Smith River and Stone Mountain Provincial Park (eBird, accessed December 2023). The species may be more numerous than current records indicate as the area it is found in is poorly explored and difficult to access (Fraser 2015h). Based on known and probable breeding sites the range extent is 113,444 square km in the Boreal Mountains Ecoprovince. Campbell et al. (2001) regards it as a vagrant elsewhere in the province. |
| Area of Occupancy (km2): | U = Unknown |
| Occurrences & Population | |
| Number of Occurrences: | BC = 6 - 80 |
| Comments: | Breeding has been documented from Chilkat Pass near the headwaters of the Tatshenshini RIver and Spatsizi Plateau (Campbell et al. 2001) but there are additional records during the breeding season from the headwaters of the Kelsall, Alsek and Stikine rivers (Campbell et al. 2001). More recent records during the breeding season come from the Cassiar Mountains east of Swift River, the Caribou Range east of Smith River and Stone Mountain Provincial Park (eBird, accessed December 2023). The historical area where the species occurred in the Chilkat Pass appears to be abandoned and is no longer suitable due to rapid willow growth but other sites in the area likely have breeding Smith's Longspurs. Additional sites probably exist throughout northwestern and north-central British Columbia where suitable habitat exists (Martin et al. 1981, Fraser 2015h). |
| Number of Occurrences with Good Viability / Ecological Integrity: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Number of Occurrences Appropriately Protected & Managed: | BC = 1 - 12 |
| Comments: | Tatshenshini Provincial Park provides protection for nesting areas west of the Haines Road in Chilkat Pass. Spatsizi Plateau populations are in Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park . Fledglings have been seen in Mount Edziza Provincial Park (Campbell et al. 2001) and Tatlatui Provincial Park (Osmund-Jones et al. 1977). Birds have been seen in the breeding season at high elevations in Stone Mountain Provincial Park (https://ebird.org/checklist/S124520294). |
| Population Size: | AC = 1 - 1,000 individuals |
| Comments: | Population size is unknown, but is probably very small. J. Cooper (pers. comm.) estimates only a few dozen pairs in Chilkat Pass, and smaller numbers in Spatsizi Plateau. |
| Threats (to population, occurrences, or area affected) | |
| Degree of Threat: | BC = High - medium |
| Comments: | Climate change modeling for this species (Audubon n.d.) suggests a loss of most current breeding habitat in North America under all of the likely climate change scenarios .Langham et al. (2015) placed Smith's Longspur in the highest risk category for North American birds in the face of climate change. Koes (2018) has suggested climate change drying out fens and changing vegetation as a driver for declining populations in Churchill, Manitoba. McFarland et al. (2017) working in Alaska, found species to be resilient to most effects of climate change, but noted that the predicted loss of low shrub habitat could significantly change the characteristics of breeding areas. Also working in Alaska, Wild et al. (2015) and Wheeler et al. (2018) note that climate change may mean that suitable habitat for this species will shift north. Since the BC breeding population is at the southern edge of the species range this could be a significant threat. Fraser (2015h) suggests that the best known breeding site in British Columbia has already been lost due to habitat shifts from climate change. |
| Trend (in population, range, area occupied, and/or condition of occurrences) | |
| Short-Term Trend: | U = Unknown |
| Comments: | Bird et al. (2020) estimates the generation time for this species at 2.74 years and therefore the short term trend is measured over 10 years. There are no data on population trends in British Columbia, note however that the one documented breeding site in the Chilkat Pass appears to have been abandoned and is no longer suitable due to willow growth (S. Cannings pers. comm), likely aided by climate change (Fraser 2015h). A record of a female in the breeding season at Chuck Creek in July 2022 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S115618618) indicates the species is still likely nesting in the area. Using Christmas Bird Count trends, wintering birds appear to have stable numbers in the USA. The wintering range may be shifting northward with declines in Texas offset by increases in Kansas and Oklahoma (Meehan et al. 2022). Globally the species is thought to be relatively stable as both the breeding sites and overwintering sites are remote and undeveloped (Birdlife International 2023d). |
| Long-Term Trend: | U = Unknown |
| Comments: | Unknown |
| Other Factors | |
| Intrinsic Vulnerability: | C=Not intrinsically vulnerable |
| Environmental Specificity: | B=Narrow. Specialist or community with key requirements common. |
| Comments: | Requires alpine tundra or wetlands with low sparse shrub cover. |
| Other Rank Considerations: | |
| Information Gaps | |
| Research Needs: | |
| Inventory Needs: | |
| Stewardship | |
| Protection: | |
| Management: | |
| Version | |
| Author: | Fraser, D.F. (2023), Ramsay, L.R. and B. Niedzielski (2015) |
| Date: | February 04, 2015 |
| References | |
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Audubon Society. No date. Smith?s Longspur, Climate Map.
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Bird, J., R. Martin, H.R. Akçakaya, et al. 2020. Generation lengths of the world?s birds and their implications for extinction risk. Conservation Biology 34:1252?1261.
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BirdLife International. 2023d. Species factsheet: Calcarius pictus.
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT.-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, A.C. Stewart, and M.C.E. McNall. 2001. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 4, Passerines: Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows. UBC Press, in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv., and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch and Resour. Inventory Branch, and Royal B.C. Mus. 744pp.
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eBird. ND. eBird: an online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y.
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Fraser, D.F. 2015h. Smith's Longspur in Davidson, P.J.A., R.J. Cannings, A.R. Couturier, D. Lepage, and C.M. Di Corrado (eds.). The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of British Columbia, 2008-2012. Bird Studies Canada. Delta, B.C. http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=SMLO&lang=en Accessed Dec 2023.
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Koes, R. F. 2018. Smith's Longspur in Artuso, C., A. R. Couturier, K. D. De Smet, et al. (eds.). The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Manitoba, 2010-2014. Bird Studies Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba
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Langham, G.M., J.G. Schuetz, T. Distler, et al. 2015. Conservation Status of North American Birds in the Face of Future Climate Change. PLOS One
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Martin, K., S. Hannon, and R. Moses. 1981. Nesting of Smith's Longspur in British Columbia. Can. Field-Nat. 95:469-470.
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McFarland H.R. , S. Kendall, A. N. Powell, 2017, Nest-site selection and nest success of an Arctic-breeding passerine, Smith's Longspur, in a changing climate, The Condor 119(1): 85?97.
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Meehan, T.D., G.S. LeBaron, K. Dale, et al. 2022. Trends in relative abundance for birds wintering in the continental USA and Canada: Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, 1966-2021, version 4.0. National Audubon Society, New York, New York, USA.
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Osmund-Jones, E.J., M. Sather, W,G. Hazelwood and B. Ford. 1977. Spatsizi and Tatlatui Wilderness Parks: an inventory of wildlife, fisheries and recreational values in a northern wilderness park. BC Parks, Victoria, BC. 292 pp.
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Sinclair, P., W. A. Nixon, C. D. Eckert, et al. 2003. Birds of the Yukon Territory. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, BC.
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Wheeler, H.C., T. T. Høye, and J. Svenning. 2018. Wildlife species benefitting from a greener Arctic are most sensitive to shrub cover at leading range edges. Global Change Biology 24(1): 212; doi:10.1111/gcb.13837
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Wild, T. C., Kendall, S. J., Guldager, N.,and A.N. Powell. 2015. Breeding habitat associations and predicted distribution of an obligate tundra-breeding bird, Smith's Longspur. The Condor 117: 3?17.
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for information on how the CDC determines conservation status ranks. For global conservation status reports and ranks, please visit the NatureServe website http://www.natureserve.org/.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2015. Conservation Status Report: Calcarius pictus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).