White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow, adult

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

White-crowned Sparrow, juvenile

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Elegantly marked in gray, brown, black, and white, the White-crowned Sparrow is one of the best-studied songbirds in North America. Much of our knowledge of bird song and development is based on studies of this species.

Description

• Large sparrow, small songbird.
• Top of head with two broad black stripes, separated by a broad white crown stripe.
• Eyebrow stripe white, bordered in front by black crown stripe.

• Size: 15-16 cm (6-6 in)
• Wingspan: 21-24 cm (8-9 in)
• Weight: 25-28 g (0.88-0.99 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, males slightly larger.

Sound

Song a series of clear whistles followed by buzzes or trills on different pitches.

Conservation Status

May be declining in some areas in western United States.

Other Names

Bruant à couronne blanche (French)
Zacatero mixto (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• 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.

• A young male White-crowned Sparrow learns the basics of the song it will sing as an adult during the first two or three months of its life. It does not learn directly from its father, but rather from the generalized song environment of its natal neighborhood.

• Because male White-crowned Sparrows learn the songs they grew up with and do not travel far from where they were raised, song dialects frequently form. Males on the edge of two dialects may be bilingual and able to sing both dialects.

Sources used to construct this page:

Chilton, G., M. C. Baker, C. D. Barrentine, and M. A. Cunningham. 1995. White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). In The Birds of North America, No. 183 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.