White-crowned Sparrow

With its crisp black and white head stripes, the White-crowned Sparrow is one of the easiest sparrows to recognize. The rest of the bird is quieter: a plain, pearly gray breast, a brown back streaked with darker brown, two white wing bars and a long tail. Its bill can be pinkish, orange or yellow, depending on which population the bird belongs to.

Several subspecies live in the Northwest, and they differ in where they nest and when they travel. Some breed in shrubby city lots, young clearcuts and wetlands in the lowlands, while others nest in subalpine and alpine meadows. Birds that breed high in the mountains may arrive at lower elevations in spring and work their way upslope as the snow melts. Different populations even sing in their own local dialects, which scientists have studied closely.

White-crowns feed on the ground, scratching with both feet at once, and dash back into cover when startled. In summer they eat many insects, and in winter mostly seeds of weeds and grasses. On Mt. Hood, look for them in summer in brushy clearings, meadow edges and the scrub just below timberline, and in fall and winter in flocks along hedges and brushy fields at lower elevations.