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White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Identify the White-throated Sparrow by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The White-throated Sparrow is a familiar American sparrow that breeds across northern North America and winters mainly in the southern and eastern United States. It has a crisp white throat, bright yellow lores and a striped head, and whistles a clear, lilting song remembered as “Oh-sweet-Canada”. Adults come in white-striped and tan-striped morphs, which almost always pair with the opposite morph. It is a very rare vagrant to Europe.
Did you know?
- Its two morphs almost always mate with the opposite type, a system tied to a chromosomal “supergene”.
- A new song variant with doublet endings has spread across the continent in recent decades.
Voice
About the species
Identification
About the size of a Yellowhammer but with a clearly sturdier bill. The throat is clean white, sharply bordered against the grey breast, and the head has broad dark and pale stripes; the front of the supercilium is yellow. Tan-striped birds have buff instead of white head stripes. The call is a hard, sharp “tsink”.
Family
Emberizidae
Size
Small (sparrow)
Colours
brown, grey, white, black, yellow
About the habitat
Deciduous and mixed forest with shrubby undergrowth for breeding; in winter thickets, woodland edges and gardens.
Diet
Mainly seeds and small fruits such as blackberries and rose hips, with insects in summer; it readily visits feeders.
Behaviour
Scratches in leaf litter with both feet to uncover food under thickets. It nests on or near the ground. White-striped birds tend to be more aggressive and sing more, while tan-striped birds invest more in parental care. In winter it joins mixed flocks.
Sources
Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zonotrichia albicollis CT1.jpg
Sound: Doug Hynes, XC569523, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/569523
Sound: Jonathon Jongsma, XC177726, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/177726
Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_sparrow
