White-crowned sparrows breed during the summer in sub-arctic and alpine areas in Alaska and Canada, but it winters in the United States. The White-crowned Sparrow travels between 1,600 to 2,000 miles to arrive at its wintering grounds. It migrates in short 200 mile hops, replenishing its fat supplies along the way. Researchers have discovered the White-crowned Sparrow to be capable of staying awake for as long as two weeks during migration. There are five sub-species of the White-crowned Sparrow and they differ from each other in terms of the types of habitat that they occupy. The five subspecies are the Eastern White-crowned, Gambel’s White- crown, the Mountain White-crown, Nuttail’s White-crown and the Puget Sound White-crown. The only two likely to be seen in Oklahoma are the Eastern and Gambel’s White-crown. East of the 90th parallel you will only find the Eastern White-crown; between the 90th and 105th parallels you will find both the Eastern and Gambel’s White-crown. To distinguish between the two you have to look at the lore (that area of the head between the eye and the bill) and the bill. The Gambel’s will have pale lores and an orange bill, while the Eastern has a pinkish bill and dark lores. The other three subspecies are not likely to be seen in Oklahoma. The Nuttail’s White-crown resides year round in central California, while the Puget Sound White-crown winters along the coast from Oregon to southern California; finally, the Mountain White crown winters in Mexico. White-crowned Sparrow

The White-crowned Sparrow is hard to miss. It is between 6 to 7 inches in length and although it is a pale gray bird, the contrasting white and black stripes on its head make it very conspicuous; the head seems to shout See Me. The three white stripes are very bright and are made even more visible by the two contrasting black stripes. Coloration on the males and females are the same. The juveniles will have three gray stripes separated by two brown stripes. I saw the birds pictured here foraging below my feeder in a flock of about 12 birds containing both Eastern and Gambel’s White-crowns. In fact both these subspecies will inter- breed. On its wintering ground it can be found foraging for seeds on the bare or grassy ground bordering tangles or brush near edge habitat. This is a generalist, taking advantage of what food is available. In the winter they are principally seed eaters, while in the spring and summer they will eat insects, seeds, buds, grass and fruit. It is not afraid of man and readily comes to feeders. However, it is more likely to forage on the ground for seeds dropped from the feeder. Typically its feeding pattern is on the ground hopping about or scratching vigorously with both feet. When feeding in the leaf litter it will hop backwards exposing the earth and almost instantly hop forward to the bare spot to eat what is exposed. I have seen them feeding on the ground below my feeder and if interrupted they tend to fly to the top of waist level bushes to eye the disturbance. They are very funny when bothered because they will crane their necks for a better look at the problem. They normally stay in flocks of while on their wintering grounds. While foraging they will tolerate Harris and House Sparrows but they tend to chase Junco’s away from where they are feeding. You can find the White-crowned Sparrow at the Tallgrass Prairie on the edge of brushy areas. The two I saw during the 2010 Christmas Bird Count where in a pasture near a spring seeping from a rock cliff outcrop covered by small trees, brush and old growth. The Backyard Bird Count tallied 346 White-crowns in Oklahoma. From a conservation standpoint this is not a bird of concern. It is abundant and does well in captivity and for that reason it is well studied. It is an interesting bird to watch so, look for it at the Prairie and it will be time well spent.