The Thick-billed Longspur breeds in North American shortgrass prairie and moves to open land farther south for winter.
In breeding plumage, the male is mainly gray and white with conspicuous black and chestnut patches.
It takes seeds and grain on the ground and also eats insects such as grasshoppers in the breeding season. It nests on the ground, and males may sing during display flights.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.