Kingdom Animalia Order Passeriformes Genus Zonotrichia Higher classification Zonotrichia | Phylum Chordata Family Emberizidae Scientific name Zonotrichia leucophrys Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Zonotrichia, White‑throated sparrow, Song sparrow, Golden‑crowned sparrow | ||
White crowned sparrow
The white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.
Contents
White crowned sparrow
Etymology
The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus Zonotrichia is from zone, "band", and thrix, trikhos, "hair", and the specific leucophrys is from leukos, "white", and ophrus, "eyebrow".
Description
Adults are 18 cm (7 in) long and have black and white stripes on their head, a gray face, brown streaked upper parts and a long tail. The wings are brown with bars and the underparts are gray. Their bill is pink or yellow. They are similar in appearance to the white-throated sparrow, but do not have the white throat markings or yellow lores.
Subspecies
There are five currently recognized subspecies of white-crowned sparrow (pugetensis, gambelii, nuttalli, oriantha, and leucophrys), varying in breeding distribution migratory route. Birds of the subspecies nutalli are permanent residents in California, while birds of the subspecies gambelli may migrate as far as the Arctic Circle during the summer breeding season. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States.
Distribution
Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across northern Canada and the western United States.
The white-crowned sparrow is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. It has been sighted in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Norway.
In 2008 a white-crowned sparrow was spotted in Cley next the Sea in Norfolk, England. To commemorate the event an image of the bird was included in a window at St Margaret's Church.
Behaviour
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 three to five brown-marked gray or greenish-blue eggs.
The white-crowned sparrow is known for its natural alertness mechanism, which allows it to stay awake for up to two weeks during migration. This effect has been studied for possible human applications, such as shift-work drowsiness or truck driving.