white-crowned sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae Genus: Zonotrichia Species: Z. leucophrys
Binomial name
Zonotrichia leucophrys (Forster, 1772)

The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.

Appearance

Adults are 18 cm long and have black and white stripes on their head, a grey face, brown streaked upper parts and a long tail. The wings are brown with bars and the underparts are grey. Their bill is pink or yellow. They are similar in appearance to the White-throated Sparrow but do not have the white throat markings.

Breeding

Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across northern Canada and the western United States. They nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs and lay 3-5 brown-marked grey or greenish-blue eggs.

Subspecies

There are five currently recognized subspecies of white-crowned sparrow (pugetensis, gambelii, nuttalli, oriantha, and leucophrys), varying in migratory behaviour and breeding habitat. The Nuttall's subspecies are permanent residents in California, while the Gambel's subspecies may migrate as far as the Arctic Circle during the summer breeding season. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States. White-crowned Sparrow is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

Behavior

These birds forage on the ground or in low vegetation, but sometimes make short flights to catch flying insects. They mainly eat seeds, other plant parts and insects. In winter, they often forage in flocks.

The call of the White-crowned Sparrow has many dialects, but the pugetensis subspecies sounds similar to "You can't come and catch me!"

Images

Adult White-crowned Sparrow

The juvenile (first winter) plumage is more muted than the adult

A nuttalli subspecies specimen from Point Lobos State Reserve, California

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Zonotrichia leucophrys. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Byers, Olsson and Curson, Buntings and Sparrows ISBN 1-873403-19-4

External Links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

White-crowned Sparrow

• White-crowned Sparrow Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• White-crowned Sparrow Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding

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