This is bird note.

On this December morning,

imagine looking outside to see plowed fields and a cloud of wind-driven

snow approaching. Undulating back and forth, the small cloud finally settles to the brown

earth. Now it's clear that rolling white cloud

isn't snow at all but a flock of snow bunting. These birds bring the barren

landscape to life. Sparrow-sized, snow-buttonings begin their lives amid the harsh conditions of the high Arctic.

And unlike nearly all other songbirds on the continent, they're feathered in immaculate white,

highlighted in winter with rich rusty brown.

They're prized winter visitors to the northern tier of states.

Look for them along shorelines, in farmland and open country.

Landscapes that mirror the Arctic tundra where they fledge their young.

As specialized tundra breeders, however, snow bunting face the prospect of a shrinking nesting range as global climate change transforms far northern habitats.

So what can one person do to make things better for bunting's?

Well, taken together, our actions large and small can benefit all birds, including snow bunting.

To find out what you can do, come to our website, birdnote.org. You're going to be.