Oh, Canada! Part One

Thanks to COVID-19, I haven’t spent time with any of my Canadian friends in well over a year now. Seeing snow buntings reminds me of them. Snow buntings can winter further north than any of the other passerines, with the only exception being the raven. These plump, rounded buntings hail from the Canadian Arctic. They summer in the tundra and migrate to the northern United States in mid-winter. They are commonly found in large groups foraging in open fields and farmland. A ground bird, the snow bunting is large and round compared to other buntings—very well built for the cold. Snow buntings are true cold-weather lovers, like most of my Canadian friends.