Photo: See these talons? Don’t mess with me

A female lapland longspur, one of the Arctic’s migratory songbirds, perches near the outflow of Marcil Lake, near Arctic Bay, June 4. The “longspur” name comes from the elongated claw on the hind toe. Flocks of lapland longspurs, who over-winter in southern Canada and the U.S., have been estimated in the millions, according to the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website. On the tundra, lapland longspurs eat mostly seeds and insects. (PHOTO BY CLARE KINES)