White-crowned Sparrow

The White-crowned Sparrow is a very elegant sparrow. They sing beautiful, graceful songs, which start with a long, clear, sweet whistle, followed by quick trills - “Wheeee- (this first note is long) pew-pew-pew-pew” (呜——啾啾啾啾). It’s like a perfect opening line (起句) in an ancient Chinese Qijue (七绝) poem. This is just the basic song pattern; different subspecies sound quite different. They learn songs from their environment rather than directly from their fathers, like picking up different “dialects.”

White-crowned Sparrows come to grasslands to feed, mainly eating small insects and seeds. City gardens and green spaces are great places to see them. Adult birds have distinctive black and white stripes on their heads, which is how they got their name. They also have noticeable tail feathers.

They build nests in shrubs. In northern tundra areas, they might nest directly on the ground. During breeding season, they form monogamous pairs. If both birds survive, most couples will pair up with the same partner when they return to breeding grounds the next year.

There are four known subspecies. Except for Z. l. nuttalli found in California, all other subspecies migrate. They rarely form large migration flocks, usually traveling in small groups of just around 3 to 5 birds. The subspecies Z. l. pugetensis found in British Columbia migrates south along the coast to winter in Oregon, California, and other areas. It seems we should cherish the summer when we can hear their beautiful songs!