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Lapland Longspurs in Iceland
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295 Lapland Longspurs Calcarius lapponicus have been recorded here up to and including 2006. It seems that both the N-American (from Greenland?) and Scandinavian subspecies occur here, although it is not known which one is more regular. Some have thought that a part of the Greenland/Canadian population passes through in small numbers, to wintering areas in the British Isles (?), only a guess!
Spring records are noted all around the country, but most often at the Westman Islands in the south and other "extreme" points, e.g. Grímsey island in the north and the Látrabjarg cliff (the westernmost peninsula). This species may have bred once, at the Snæfellsnes peninsula, although nests or youngs were never seen. Autumn records are noted almost exclusively in the extreme south-west part of Iceland (the Reykjanes peninsula).
The first record was somewhere in the south, during spring 1821.


Fig. 1


Fig. 2


Fig. 3

Explanations:

  • Figure 1 shows the distribution of records in Iceland, the circles representing different numbers of birds and the blue triangles records at sea.
  • Figure 2 shows the weekly distribution of records. Red columns show the week of discovery and the yellow columns all observations after the first week (for birds that are seen more than one week).
    R = number of records & F = number of birds.
  • Figure 3 shows the annual distribution of records for the period mentioned.

    © Gunnlaugur Pétursson / Yann Kolbeinsson