White-crowned Sparrow

After talking about White-throated Sparrows yesterday, today I'm going to talk about a wildly different animal, the White-crowned Sparrow. 😉 

Okay, they're not really all that different. At least in my area they can look fairly similar to one another - no doubt partly due to them being in the same genus - with a white patch above/behind the eyes and a dark stripe going through the eyes. Some White-crowned Sparrows have a whitish area on their throats, though it's not as distinct as with the White-throated Sparrow. To our eyes the non-head parts of their bodies look similar, and the White-crowned Sparrow is only slightly larger. If you get a look at the top of the head, you'll see a white stripe there on the White-crowned Sparrow, but this can be difficult to see on a profile view.

Geographically the White-crowned Sparrow does a better job spanning the continent, but in my area White-throated Sparrows are spotted quite a bit more. Both winter here and south of here, though the White-crowned Sparrow likes things a bit further north in the summer.

Similar to White-throated Sparrows, these birds don't all look alike. But while the White-throated Sparrows have 2 morphs that live side by side, different-looking White-crowned Sparrows occur in different parts of the country.

Here's the profile view of a White-crowned Sparrow where it's probably possible to confuse them with their white-throated cousins.
October 14, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 250352855, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

And this 2nd picture of the same bird shows the distinguishing white stripe on its "crown".
October 14, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 250352864, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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