Cool Critters: Unlike most, the tiny snow bunting sings its heart out when the weather is frigid

Even though we haven’t seen much snow in the Inland Northwest this winter, we’ve gotten plenty of snowflakes.

Snow buntings are nicknamed snowflakes for their whitish color and the way they flutter like windblown snow before landing in fields. Roughly the size of a sparrow, their toasted marshmallow patterns of white with black streaks and patches of rust make this species easy to identify.

It also embraces the chill. How many other species can you think of that revel in the cold?

The snow buntings’ breeding grounds are located in the high arctic – farther north than any other songbird, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. These tough birds breed and nest in a treeless land where the ground doesn’t thaw and is often covered with snow. In autumn, they fly south to spend winters not in southern California or Mexico but in southern Canada and the northern United States, including the Inland Northwest.

Snow buntings flock to “open areas of central and eastern Washington and can also be seen along U.S. Route 2,” according to BirdWeb, an online guide to Washington’s birds. Wintertime sightings are often reported along the stretch of highway 2 that extends from Waterville, located east of Wenatchee, to Davenport, 45 miles west of Spokane.

Considering the buntings’ summer home is only 500 miles from the North Pole, winters in the Inland Northwest must be a cakewalk for them. Not only is our weather relatively mild, but we’ve got farm fields and weed-stubbled areas along roadsides where they forage for birdseed. We’ve also got plenty of gravel and dirt roads loaded with grit that the birds consume to help grind up the hard seeds they eat.

Look for flurries of motion as snow buntings move from one eating spot to another, said Tim O’Brien, a long-time member of the Spokane Audubon Society who leads bird-watching walks in the region.

Because their colors help them blend into winter environments, “they are difficult to spot on the ground unless in a large flock,” he explained.

They’re also wary of humans. After all, they’re used to seeing caribou, not people. If a single bird in a flock of 50 perceives you as a threat – woosh! – the entire flock will suddenly take flight.

Moving across fields, buntings in the back will fly over those in the front as if the flock is rolling over itself like drifting snow. No wonder a group of snow buntings is called a drift.

These avian drifts will only be in our region for another two months or so. Male snow buntings typically depart in early March to secure prime nesting sites, followed by the females a few weeks later, according to the Cornell bird lab.

Males reach the high arctic in early April, which is no spring picnic. Temperatures dip to -20 degrees, and food resources are largely snow covered, according to a three-year study conducted by Canadian researchers and published in the September 2021 journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

How does this little songbird survive such extreme wintry conditions?

For one, snow buntings have dense feather insulation that extends down their legs and to the beak, scientists have found. They also have the ability to significantly lower their body temperature and increase their metabolism to generate heat, and also to turn food into insulating body fat.

Unless you’d prefer to travel far north this summer to observe snow buntings, now is the time to see them in our region. Dress warmly, bring your binoculars and witness an extraordinary display of resilience.