I just re-examined our Slater Museum longspurs, and I find that 2 of our 5
breeding females have (1) a lot of black on the underparts, (2) a
distinctly chestnut nape, and (3) white tips to the outermost lesser wing
coverts. Either both are mis-sexed, which, as I said before, seems
unlikely in breeding-season birds, or there is a lot more variation in
females than Pyle et al. in their Handbook of North American Passerines
imply. However, Oberholser, in Bird Life of Texas, also makes no mention
of females having any of these 3 male-like characteristics, so I'm left at
a bit of a loss. Oberholser does state that immature males have less white
on the lesser coverts than adults--probably none in first-winter birds. I
suspect the white on the lesser coverts is invisible when the wing is
folded.

Clearly, there *is* more information needed about the plumages of this
bird--research which, as was written, needs to be conducted in the normal
range of the species and with large museum collections.

If any of you get a chance to check the Burke Museum longspur collection,
that would be of interest.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416