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White-crowned Sparrow
last update: Mar 25, 2009 03:48 PM
Latin name: Zonotrichia leucophrys
Population: 72 million individuals
Cites classified: Least Concern
Where found: Alaska and across mainland Canada to the northern coast, but absent from the Arctic islands
Age/ life expectancy: unknown
Wingspan: 22-25 cm
Length: 15-18 cm
Weight: 24-34 g
Mating/Breeding: Males generally arrive on the breeding grounds before females. The males sing to defend their territories and attract mates. The nest is usually located on the ground at the base of a shrub or a clump of grass, in a depression so the rim is level with the ground. Nests on the West Coast are often placed in a shrub a few feet off the ground. The female builds the nest, which is an open cup made of grass, sticks, pine needles, rootlets, and bark strips and is lined with fine grass, feathers, and hair. The female incubates the 3 to 7 eggs for 11 to 14 days. Both parents feed the young, which leave the nest at 8 to 10 days after hatching. The young begin to fly about 7 to 10 days after leaving the nest and start finding their own food at about that time as well. The pugetensis subspecies typically raises 2 to 3 broods each year, while the other subspecies usually raise only one.
Eggs: 3-7 green, blue-green, or blue eggs, spotted and blotched red-brown
Hibernation: migrates to southern US and Mexico in winter
Hunting Habits: foraging on the ground
Feed on: seeds and insects with the addition of buds and fruits in the winter
Predators: snakes, barn owls, hawks, crows, jays, and kestrels
Colour/Body: The White-crowned Sparrow is a distinctive bird with bold black and white stripes on its head. It has a clear, gray breast and belly, long tail, and wings distinctly marked with two white wing-bars. The beak is orange-yellow to reddish-brown depending on the subspecies. Young birds are streaked overall until August, when they take on a juvenile plumage similar to the adult; they have brown and tan head stripes rather than black and white, which they keep until the spring.
Subspecies: There are five currently recognized subspecies of white-crowned sparrow (Z. l. pugetensis, Z. l. gambelii, Z. l. nuttalli, Z. l. oriantha, and Z. l. 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.
Interesting Trivia:
- Four of the five subspecies of White-crowned Sparrows are migratory. The sedentary race lives in a very narrow band along the California coast. The most widespread race, breeding across northern Canada and wintering in the eastern United States, is the least-studied and least well known of all the races.
