Wildlife Watching Wednesday: White-Crowned Sparrows Are Migrating Visitors

By: Tom Berg

Sparrows tend to be hard for most casual birders to identify. Many of them just look like small, unremarkable brown birds. There are a few exceptions, though, and the white-crowned sparrow is one of them. White-crowned sparrows have dull brown-streaked wings, but they also have bold black and white stripes on their heads which stand out and makes them very easy to identify.

These fascinating sparrows migrate through most of the continental U.S. in the springtime as they make their way north to their summer breeding grounds in Alaska and the far northern reaches of Canada. As fall approaches, keep an eye out for them to return to your area as they migrate south again. Some white-crowned sparrows spend the entire winter in the Midwest, while others migrate farther south to the southern U.S. and even Mexico.

White-crowned sparrows eat plenty of insects when they can get them, but as colder weather arrives they switch to eating a variety of seeds and berries. They love sunflower seeds, so small flocks of these sparrows often gather beneath bird feeders searching for seeds dropped by other birds. Evidently they don’t like the company of chipping sparrows and dark-eyed juncos, though, and they will chase them away while foraging.

White-crowned sparrows prefer to search for food along the ground, but they usually restrict their foraging to areas where there are bushes or woody cover nearby. When a Cooper’s hawk or other predator suddenly appears, these wary sparrows are quick to head for cover. As soon as the danger is gone, though, they will be right out in the open again, looking for their next meal.

One interesting fact about white-crowned sparrows is that they have a special “alertness” mechanism which allows them to stay awake for long periods of time while migrating. It is not unusual for them to stay awake for up to two weeks straight during migrations.  They must be pretty sleepy afterwards!

Have you done something interesting outdoors? Join Global Outdoors and write a review to tell everyone about it! We’re building the home for trusted reviews of outdoor experiences, outfitters, and guides.