Snow bunting

Snow bunting perched on a pale rock with a blurred reed background, Manitoba

Here is one of my favourite frames of this bird, perched on a shoreline rock.

With a snow-white body, black-and-white wings, and a rusty wash across the crown, the snow bunting looks made for winter, and in Manitoba it is. These small songbirds breed on the Arctic tundra and arrive on the prairies as the cold sets in, bringing a flash of white to bare fields, gravel roads, and lake shorelines. Their flocks lift and settle like drifting snow, which has earned them the nickname snowflakes.

Snow buntings feed on weed and grass seeds picked from the ground, often shuffling along in tight flocks that wheel together when startled. They usually reach Manitoba in late fall and head north again by early spring, and they nest far to the north in rock crevices on the tundra, so winter is the only time most of us ever see them.

Curious about the snow bunting and its habitat? Learn more on its page at All About Birds.

Field notes in photographs

  • Snow bunting perched on a pale rock with a blurred reed background, Manitoba
  • Flock of snow buntings perched in a frosty bare tree against a blue winter sky, Manitoba
  • Snow bunting perched on a snowbank

Snow bunting Manitoba sightings

Where and when you can find the snow bunting in Manitoba depends on the season and the habitat. You can see more species in the Manitoba birds section.

Map of Manitoba showing where the snow bunting nests, migrates, and spends the winter, with major cities and lakes
Where to look for the snow bunting in Manitoba through the seasons: nesting in the Hudson Plains and the Southern Arctic (gold), passing through the Boreal Shield and the Taiga Shield in spring and fall (lilac), wintering in the Prairies (blue), and passing through and wintering in the Boreal Plains (striped). Habitat regions: National Ecological Framework for Canada. Boundaries: Statistics Canada. Lakes: Natural Earth.

Back to Manitoba bird photography, or see the portfolio.

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