Monday, February 2, 2009

A White-crowned Sparrow Couple

The male White-crowned Sparrow is such a striking bird. I love the combination of his black and white crown and orange bill. In Larry's photo, he has caught a male and a juvenile together. The juvenile isn't quite as flashy, but in this photo the raised rusty cap and profile are irresistible.  


Cool Facts about White-crowned Sparrows taken from Cornell’s All About Birds:
A young male White-crowned Sparrow learns the basics of the song it will sing as an adult during the first two or three months of its life. It does not learn directly from its father, but rather from the generalized song environment of its natal neighborhood.


Because male White-crowned Sparrows learn the songs they grew up with and do not travel far from where they were raised, song dialects frequently form. Males on the edge of two dialects may be bilingual and able to sing both dialects.

I like the way Larry framed the bird's head 
between the vines in this photo.
at

6 comments:

  1. RoyFebruary 2, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    Interesting. We don't get those here in RI; I had to look them up in my Audubon. Definitely a handsome Sparrow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KellyFebruary 2, 2009 at 10:06 PM

    ...at my house, they aren't quite as abundant as the white-throated sparrows, so they become even more special.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KimFebruary 3, 2009 at 6:28 AM

    Wonderful photos. I don't see them here in MA either.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alan PulleyFebruary 3, 2009 at 12:33 PM

    Nice capture! I always like it when you can get the male and female in the same photo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChrisFebruary 3, 2009 at 4:11 PM

    Wonderful Kelly. I did not know this bird.. Cool pictures!!! Congrats...

    ReplyDelete
  6. KellyFebruary 3, 2009 at 8:24 PM

    Thanks, Chris!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting! I love meeting other bird and nature lovers, so drop me a line!