Golden-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia atricapilla

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breeding adult

The Golden-crowned Sparrow is distinctive as a summer adult, but less so at other times. The sexes are similar. Summer adults have a dark-streaked brown back and reddish-brown wings with two white wingbars. The rump and tail are gray-brown. The nape is gray, and the head pattern comprises a gray face and a black crown with a broad yellow central stripe. The underparts are brown on the breast and flanks but otherwise pale gray, palest on the undertail. Winter adults are similar, but dark elements on the crown are speckled and the central stripe is less colorful. Juveniles are similar to a winter adult but the head pattern is indistinct, with only a hint of color, and the underparts are heavily streaked. By their first winter, their plumage is closer to a winter adult’s but the head markings and colors remain indistinct.

The Golden-crowned Sparrow is a western specialty that is present as a breeding species in the Pacific Northwest mainly from May to August. In winter, its range extends down the west coast to the Mexican border. Outside the breeding season it forms flocks.

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winter adult

FACT FILE

LENGTH 7 in (18 cm)

FOOD Mainly seeds, with invertebrates in spring and summer

HABITAT Wet boreal forests in summer; dense woodland and chaparral in winter

STATUS Locally common, both in summer and winter

VOICE Song is a series of whistled notes such as see-er-duu-see. Call is a soft tseek

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