White-crowned sparrow Temporal range: | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passerellidae |
Genus: | Zonotrichia |
Species: | Z. leucophrys |
Binomial name | |
Zonotrichia leucophrys (Forster, 1772) | |
Range of Z. leucophrys Breeding Migration Year-round Nonbreeding |
The white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a species of passerine bird native to North America. A medium-sized member of the New World sparrow family, this species is marked by a grey face and black and white streaking on the upper head. It breeds in brushy areas in the taiga and tundra of the northernmost parts of the continent and in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast. While southerly populations in the Rocky Mountains and coast are largely resident, the breeding populations of the northerly part of its range are migratory and can be found as wintering or passage visitors through most of North America south to central Mexico.
The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name Zonotrichia is from Ancient Greek ζώνη (zone, transl. band) and θρίξ (thrix, transl. hair). The species name leucophrys is from λευκός (leukos, transl. white) and ὀφρῡ́ς (ophrus, transl. eyebrow). [2]
Adults 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. [3]
Measurements: [4]
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 nuttalli 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 and northern Mexico.
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. [5] It has been sighted in England, Scotland, [5] [6] Ireland, [7] and Norway. [8] In 2008 a white-crowned sparrow was spotted in Cley next the Sea in Norfolk, England. [9] To commemorate the event an image of the bird was included in a window at St Margaret's Church.
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. [3]
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. [3]
The white-crowned sparrow is known for its unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, which allows it to stay half-awake for up to two weeks during migration. [10] This effect has been studied for possible human alertness applications in shift work and truck driving. [11] [12] [13]
Recent studies by ornithologists including Elizabeth Derryberry have shown that white-crowned sparrow songs are affected by human activity and noise. [14]
The white-throated sparrow is a passerine bird of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. It breeds in northern North America and winters in the southern United States.
The dark-eyed junco is a species of junco, a group of small, grayish New World sparrows. The species is common across much of temperate North America and in summer it ranges far into the Arctic. It is a variable species, much like the related fox sparrow, and its systematics are still not completely resolved.
The Savannah sparrow is a small New World sparrow that is the only member of the genus Passerculus. It is a widespread and abundant species that occupies open grassland habitats in North America.
The swamp sparrow is a medium-sized New World sparrow related to the song sparrow.
The black-throated gray warbler or black-throated grey warbler is a passerine bird of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It is 13 cm (5.1 in) long and has gray and white plumage with black markings. The male has the bold black throat of its name, and black stripes on its head, as well as black streaks on its flanks; the female is a paler version of the male, with a white throat and less distinct black markings on the flanks and wings. It breeds in western North America from British Columbia to New Mexico, and winters in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The habitats it prefers are coniferous and mixed forests and scrubland, especially those with pinyon pines, junipers, sagebrush, and oaks. Its nest is an open cup of plant fibers lined with feathers, built a few metres from the ground in the branches of a tree or shrub. Three to five eggs are laid, and young are fed by both parents. Common in its breeding range, it does not seem to be seriously threatened by human activities, unlike many migratory warblers.
Brewer's sparrow is a small, slim species of American sparrow in the family Passerellidae. This bird was named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.
Zugunruhe is the experience of migratory restlessness.
The golden-crowned sparrow is a large New World sparrow found in the western part of North America.
Harris's sparrow is a large sparrow. Their breeding habitat is the north part of central Canada, making it Canada's only endemic breeding bird. In the winter they migrate to the Great Plains states of the United States, from southern South Dakota to central Texas. The common name of this species commemorates the American amateur ornithologist Edward Harris (1799–1863).
The black-chinned sparrow is a small bird in the genus Spizella, in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. It is found in the southwestern United States and throughout much of Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; most populations in the US migrate south after breeding while those in Mexico are resident. It is a slim, long-tailed bird, primarily gray with a reddish-brown back streaked with black, brown wings and tail, a pink beak, and brownish legs and feet. In the breeding season, the male shows black on his throat, chin, and the front of his face. Females, youngsters and nonbreeding males show little or no black in these areas. An unobtrusive bird, it spends much of its time foraging slowly along the ground, either alone or in small groups, sometimes mixing with other Spizella species. It is an omnivore, feeding primarily on seeds during the winter and insects during the summer. It builds a cup-shaped nest of grasses, rootlets, or plant fibers, into which the female lays 2–5 pale blue eggs. The female does most or all of the egg incubation, but both parents feed the hatched nestlings.
The silver-throated tanager is a species of passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. It inhabits mossy forests, montane evergreen forests, tropical lowland evergreen forests and forest edges, along with tall secondary forests and disturbed habitat with remnant trees and forest. It is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) long and weighs 22 grams (0.78 oz) on average, and shows slight sexual dimorphism, with duller female plumage. Adult males are mainly bright yellow, with a silvery-white throat bordered above with a black stripe on the cheeks, black streaking on the back, and green edges to the wings and tail. Juveniles are duller and greener.
The white-throated magpie-jay is a large Central American species of magpie-jay. It ranges in Pacific-slope thorn forest from Jalisco, Mexico, to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers.
The buffy-crowned wood partridge is a bird species in the family Odontophoridae, the New World quail. It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
The tepui foliage-gleaner, also known as the white-throated foliage-gleaner, is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela.
The flammulated flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Deltarhynchus but was moved to the genus Ramphotrigon based on genetic analysis. It is endemic to the dry deciduous forest, arid thorn forest, and scrubby woodland of Mexico’s Pacific coast. The flycatcher is an olive to gray-brown bird with a streaked, pale gray chest, white throat, black bill, dark gray feet, and dark brown wings. It is a skulking bird that typically remains hidden in the underbrush. It feeds by gleaning insects off of leaves and twigs that it spots from an exposed perch. The female lays approximately three eggs in a nest made in a shallow tree cavity.
The black-throated spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Venezuela.
The rufous-breasted spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Barbara Blanchard DeWolfe was an American ornithologist. She graduated with an undergrad in 1933 and obtained her PhD in 1939 both from UC Berkeley. She taught for several years and pioneered studies of avian life history and physiology on the white-crowned sparrow. Despite facing discrimination because she was a woman, she went on to publish over 30 works and was the 1995 recipient of the Cooper Ornithological Society’s Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, which is given in recognition of lifetime achievement in ornithological research.
Dr. Elizabeth Derryberry is an associate professor specializing in ornithology, in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee.
James Roger King (1927–1991) was an American ornithologist, specializing in avian physiology.