Little Brown and white bird on the prairie (1 Viewer)

[Maroon Jay]

Saw this bird out on the North American prairie in northeast Montana. Unfortunately did not get a photo of the front of it. ID appreciated.

 

[Barbets48]

Appears to be a longspur. Three species seem likely in Montana (Lapland, Cheatnut-collared, Thick-billed) based on range but I’ll leave it to someone else for the specific ID

 

[Barbets48]

Actually I’m changing my first thought and think that Vesper Sparrow may be your bird. It’s darker on the back than most of the long spurs, shows the white outer tail pattern and I think the facial pattern fits better

 

[qwerty5]

This definitely isn't a Vesper Sparrow, but I have little knowledge about the prairie longspurs, so I can't say which it is.

 

[Maroon Jay]

There are four species of Longspurs. Two of them are migratory and not here at this time of year. The other two are mostly white on the sides of their head. This bird is very dark all over, except perhaps for the front which I did not see before it flew away.

 

[Barbets48]

How about a young Chestnut-collared Longspur? The following photos seem pretty similar:
EBird Chestnut-collared Longspur

 

[qwerty5]

After looking up the longspurs in Sibley, I'd say this is Chestnut-collared. Surely there's someone here who has experience and can confirm.

 

[Maroon Jay]

How about a young Chestnut-collared Longspur? The following photos seem pretty similar:
EBird Chestnut-collared Longspur

You got it. Thank you very much. A juvenile Chestnut-collared Longspur that does not look anything like the adults. I was really puzzled. It does not look like any of the birds in my book which shows only the adults of most species. The Sibley book shows only the adult and the "first winter" Longspur but not juveniles.