H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

The White-crowned Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow native of North America. Adults  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. That is what happened when I first saw these birds I got confused but not for long.

Their breeding grounds are the brush areas of Northern Canada and Western USA.

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.

White-crowned Sparrows nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs and lay 3–5 brown-marked grey or greenish-blue eggs.

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Text and photographs © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101