Long-term monitoring of breeding activity of Lapland longspur on Bylot Island, Nunavut

The Lapland longspur is one of the most abundant and visible terrestrial songbird breeding in the Arctic. As other Arctic-nesting birds, they are constrained by a very short time period during which they can reproduce. Though the timing of hatch is critical for the growth and survival of young, even more crucial is the ability of longspurs to ensure that their nests survive until hatch. Nest predation is an important source of mortality for this bird especially when lemming abundance is low. Longspurs eggs are an alternative prey resource for the Arctic Fox , which preys primarily on lemmings. Alternately, when lemmings are abundant, the Arctic Fox will focus on lemmings, and longspurs may experience reduced predation pressure and increased nest success.