A Numbers Game

You'd think a bird with these stats would be famous -- or infamous -- but the Smith's Longspur is one of the least known North American birds.

Small like a sparrow, the Smith's Longspur spends its summers in Alaska and Canada and its winters in the Midwest and the South. In terms of range, then, it's a lot like some other species. What sets the Smith's Longspur apart is its astonishing libido. At the peak of the spring mating season, the typical Smith's Longspur copulates -- drum roll, please -- more than 350 times a week.

The females solicit these encounters, and the males cooperate roughly half the time. Otherwise the creatures are resting and refueling. Clearly a diet of seeds from various grasses, sedges, and other plants has its benefits.

Click here to learn more about the Smith's Longspur.