How to Identify McKay's Bunting Feathers

What McKay's Bunting Feathers Look Like

McKay's Bunting is essentially a whiter version of the familiar Snow Bunting, and that's exactly the clue to look for. Body feathers — crown, back, breast, and belly — are almost entirely pure white in breeding males, with far less dark pigment than in Snow Bunting. Even the back feathers, which are solidly black in male Snow Buntings, are white or only lightly marked with black in McKay's. Wing feathers show the clearest diagnostic difference: primaries have only small black tips, leaving much more white at the base than the more extensively black primaries of Snow Bunting, and the black is often restricted to a small terminal patch rather than covering much of the outer web. Tail feathers are mostly white with limited black near the tips, again showing less black than Snow Bunting's tail pattern. Females and winter birds are less starkly different but still average paler and whiter than Snow Bunting equivalents.

Step-by-Step: Is This Feather From a McKay's Bunting?

• Compare the ratio of white to black. If a wing or tail feather is mostly white with only a small dark tip, lean toward McKay's Bunting; more extensive black points to Snow Bunting.
• Check the back feather. A white or lightly-marked back feather (rather than solid black) is a strong McKay's indicator in breeding males.
• Look at overall brightness. McKay's feathers, especially in breeding condition, look noticeably "cleaner" and whiter than a side-by-side Snow Bunting feather.
• Factor in geography heavily. McKay's Bunting breeds almost exclusively on a couple of remote Bering Sea islands (St. Matthew and Hall Islands) — feathers found well outside that area, or outside the species' limited winter range along the western Alaska coast, are far more likely Snow Bunting.
• Consider female/winter caution. In non-breeding plumage, the white/black contrast is less extreme, so treat identification of isolated feathers from this plumage as tentative.

Similar Species & How to Tell Them Apart

• Snow Bunting: The primary look-alike and closest relative; distinguished mainly by having noticeably more black in the wingtips, tail, and back feathers than McKay's Bunting.
• Lapland Longspur: Feathers are more heavily streaked brown and buff rather than the clean white-and-black pattern of either bunting species, and lack the extensive white wing patches.
• Snowy Owl down/body feathers: Much larger and softer, not comparable in size to a small songbird's feather.

Where & When You'll Find Them

McKay's Bunting has one of the smallest breeding ranges of any North American songbird, nesting almost entirely on St. Matthew and Hall Islands in the Bering Sea, then wintering along the western coast of Alaska. Feathers found outside this narrow corridor should be reconsidered as Snow Bunting. Molt occurs in late summer on the breeding islands after nesting concludes, so freshly dropped, crisp white-and-black feathers are most likely to be found there in August and September, while worn winter-plumage feathers may turn up along the mainland Alaska coast through the colder months.