The Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla, is a medium-sized sparrow

American sparrow

American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....

. It is slightly larger than the closely related White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

The White-crowned Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.- Description :Adults are long and have black and white stripes on their head, a grey face, brown streaked upper parts and a long tail. The wings are brown with bars and the underparts are grey. Their bill is pink or yellow...

.

Description

Adults are 18 cm (7 in) long. In the breeding season, it has a distinct gold patch on its head, flanked by two dark black stripes. When not breeding, its plumage is more variable, ranging from a small, dull gold patch and no black, to near-breeding season plumage.

Distribution and habitat

The breeding habitat is across the north part of western Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. In the winter the Golden-crowned Sparrow migrates

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 to Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 in Canada and the West Coast of the United States

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

.

Breeding

It nests in shrubby habitat above the treeline or near the coast and lays 3-5 brown-marked greenish white eggs.

Behavior

The song is a three-note whistle, descending in pitch. It is very distinctive, and often described as "oh-dear-me". However, birds in the mountains of British Columbia have been reported to have trill on the third note, rather than a clear whistle as in other populations. These songs are heard mainly in the breeding season, but also in the wintering grounds just after fall migration as well as just before they take off for spring migration.

History

Alaskan gold miners along the trails called this bird Weary Willie, because of its call which sounded like I'm so weary, (or 'oh-dear-me' ).

Book

• Norment, C. J., P. Hendricks, and R. Santonocito. 1998. Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 352 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Thesis

• Lynn K. M.S. (1997). Multivariate relationships between riparian birds and environmental variables. San Jose State University, United States, California.

• Turek FW. Ph.D. (1973). PHOTOPERIODIC PHENOMENA IN WHITE-CROWNED AND GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS (GENUS ZONOTRICHIA). Stanford University, United States, California.

Articles

• Campbell RW. (1975). Golden-Crowned Sparrow Breeding on Vancouver Island. Canadian Field Naturalist. vol 89, no 2. pp. 175–176.

• Gorenzel WP, Mastrup SA & Fitzhugh EL. (1995). Characteristics of brushpiles used by birds in Northern California. Southwestern Naturalist. vol 40, no 1. pp. 86–93.

• Gwinner EG, Turek FW & Smith SD. (1971). Extraocular Light Perception in Photoperiodic Responses of the White-Crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia-Leucophrys and of the Golden-Crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia-Atricapilla. Zeitschrift fuer Vergleichende Physiologie. vol 75, no 3. pp. 323–331.

• Halmi NS. (1977). Golden-Crowned Sparrow 1st Iowa Sighting. Iowa Bird Life. vol 47, no 2.

• Hoffman W, Sawicki R, Thompson C & Carrington M. (1991). Golden-Crowned Sparrow Appears in Florida USA. Florida Field Naturalist. vol 19, no 1. pp. 19–21.

• Kazama T. (1987). A Golden-Crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia-Atricapilla Found in Niigata Prefecture Japan. Journal of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. vol 19, no 1.

• Pearson OP. (1979). Spacing and Orientation among Feeding Golden-Crowned Sparrows Zonotrichia-Atricapilla. Condor. vol 81, no 3. pp. 278–285.

• Sandercock BK & Jaramillo A. (2002). Annual survival rates of wintering sparrows: Assessing demographic consequences of migration. Auk. vol 119, no 1. pp. 149–165.

• Turek FW. (1975). Extraretinal Photo Reception During the Gonadal Photo Refractory Period in the Golden Crowned Sparrow. Journal of Comparative Physiology A Sensory Neural & Behavioral Physiology. vol 96, no 1. pp. 27–36.

• Verner J, Breese D & Purcell KL. (2000). Return rates of banded granivores in relation to band color and number of bands worn. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 71, no 1. pp. 117–125.

• Zink RM. (1982). Patterns of Genic and Morphologic Variation among Sparrows in the Genera Zonotrichia Melospiza Junco and Passerella. Auk. vol 99, no 4. pp. 632–649.

• Zink RM & Blackwell RC. (1996). Patterns of allozyme, mitochondrial DNA, and morphometric variation in four sparrow genera. Auk. vol 113, no 1. pp. 59–67.

• Zink RM, Dittmann DL & Rootes WL. (1991). Mitochondrial DNA Variation and the Phylogeny of Zonotrichia. Auk. vol 108, no 3. pp. 578–584.

External links

• Golden-crowned Sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection
• Golden-crowned Sparrow photo gallery VIREO