The Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) is the black-and-white character bird of the high fells, a hardy species that breeds higher in the Swedish mountains than almost any other and is seen in winter flocks along coasts and open landscapes further south. Its large white wing patches make a flying flock resemble a swirl of tumbling snowballs. It measures about 16–17 cm with a wingspan of around 32–38 cm; in winter plumage it shows a warm yellowish-brown crown and back, a white belly, and large white patches on the wings and tail sides. The male in full summer dress is strikingly black and white — a pure white body and head set against a black back and black wingtips, a pattern unique among Europe's birds — while the female is more subdued, with grey-brown tones on the head and back. Its calls are clear whistled "pju" notes and a raspier, buzzing "trrt", and the song is a short, clear, melodic phrase given from a rock or during a brief song flight over the fell.
Snow Buntings breed on stony alpine ground above the treeline in Lappland, Jämtland and Härjedalen, nesting early to make the most of the short fell summer, with the nest tucked well into a rock crevice or among boulders and the female laying 4–6 eggs in June, raising a single brood. In summer the diet is protein-rich insects and spiders for the fast-growing chicks, but during migration and winter the birds switch to seeds — grass and weed seeds gathered from seaweed banks along shores, from fields and roadsides. In winter the species spreads to open, mainly coastal landscapes from Skåne to Norrbotten, appearing at beaches, fields and roadsides from October to April and most numerous between November and March, often foraging restlessly in flocks across snow-free patches of ground. Though numbers are declining, the Snow Bunting remains classified as Least Concern.
Read about this species in Swedish →