Golden-crowned Sparrow

Primarily a winter bird in Sonoma County. Usually present from late September/early October through late April or so. Common in parks, wooded areas, open brushy areas near woods. Regular winter feeder visitor in Sonoma County. Usually forages on the ground. Moves in small flocks on the ground or through low trees or brush, often mixed with our other common winter Zonotrichia sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, or with towhees and juncos. Breeds in Western Canada, coastal Alaska.

Usually identified by the golden crown, but we rarely see this bird in full breeding plumage, so pictures in field guides are often more confusing than helpful, especially to beginning birders. We mostly see winter birds in which the gold crown is often an attenuated brownish-yellow, sometimes barely visible (although there is usually some suggestion of yellow on the top of the head) flanked by dark brown--field guides often show the flanking color as a rich black. Only birds in full breeding plumage will have the starkly striped (black-yellow-black) look often shown. From the side, no yellow or gold may be visible on the head at all on birds wintering here. Most Golden-crowned Sparrows will be well north of Sonoma County when sporting such bright colors (but not all--see below).

Personally, I find Golden-crowned Sparrow fairly easy to identify even without seeing the head well because it has a distinctive back pattern that always suggests to me the bird has a bolt of Harris tweed thrown over its shoulders. Golden-crowned Sparrow is a comparatively large sparrow; with a longish tail; tweedy brown upper back; pale brownish-grey underparts and face (quite variable--can be distinctly grey, or quite buff), often browner on the flanks; hints of whitish wing bars, but with a broken, spotted look to them (especially the upper "bar," which is sometimes just a couple of white flecks); medium bill (often with a darker upper mandible and a paler, slightly yellowish lower mandible); pinkish legs; and a markedly plaintive song of three, slow, descending notes that sound like words spoken through a sigh. Immature birds similar to adult but lacking distinct head patterning. Very young birds may have a streaked breast.