White-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys · New World Sparrows
Banding codeWCSP
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 6 in long.
2Color pattern
- Bold black-and-white striped crown
- Pinkish-orange bill
- Clean gray breast; young birds have brown-and-tan crown stripes
3Habitat & season
Brushy lowlands in winter; high mountain meadows in summer
In northern Utah: year-round.
Seen most often in October and November.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
Clear whistles followed by buzzy, jumbled trills.
“a sweet whistle, then 'zee-zee-zee' trills”
iNat 98557159 by Anne Parsons · Joseph D. Grant County Park, CA, USA · CC0
Know it
- Its songs differ by region — a classic study subject for bird 'dialects.'
- A migrating bird has been recorded flying over 300 miles in a single night.
- Breeds in Utah's high mountains but floods the valleys in winter.
Often confused with
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow- American Tree Sparrow
From iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The white-crowned sparrow is a species of passerine bird native to North America. A medium-sized member of the New World sparrow family, this species is marked by a grey face and black and white streaking on the upper head. It breeds in brushy areas in the taiga and tundra of the northernmost parts of the continent and in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast. While southerly populations in the Rocky Mountains and coast are largely resident, the breeding populations of the northerly part of its range are migratory and can be found as wintering or passage visitors through most of North America south to central Mexico.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0