How to Identify aWhite-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys · 5.9–6.3 in (15–16 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Plain pale-gray face and breast, bold black-and-white head stripes, and a small pink or yellow-orange bill.
Female
Identical to the male in the field.
Male photo: Wolfgang Wander / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Second photo: Andeansolitaire / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Field marks
- Puffy black-and-white striped crown
- Unmarked pale gray breast
- Pink to orange conical bill
- Upright, long-tailed posture
Similar species
What it sounds like
A few clear whistles followed by buzzy trills, differing markedly between neighbouring populations.
Behaviour that gives it away
Song dialects change over surprisingly short distances, so birds a few valleys apart sing recognisably differently.
Habitat & range
Brushy fields, hedgerows, and feeders across much of the U.S. in migration and winter.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in North America you are, it is a winter visitor and a passage migrant, seen mainly in spring and autumn.
What it eats
Seeds and buds on the ground, plus insects in the breeding season.
Did you know?
Young males learn their local song "dialect," so populations sing subtly different tunes by region.
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