Snow Bunting and Horned Lark, Flock of birds in winter.

If you ask me why winter in the north can be very pleasant, there is no better reason than that we get to enjoy these two species.
It sometimes confounds the imagination that they can make a living in a bleak winter landscape, but they are adept at finding seeds on grasses and dormant wildflowers poking above the snow, and exploiting micro climates wherever they find them. They can be found on rural roads feeding on minerals and grit, and in fields of corn stubble where there is much food to be found. Corn spilled while loading trucks, or residue not harvested by mechanical means is quickly discovered and hundreds or even thousands of birds will descend to feed.