Adult white-crowned sparrows have bold white and black stripes on their heads, kind of like a University of Michigan football helmet, but with different colors, which makes them very easy to identify. The face is gray, the upper parts are brown with a barred pattern, the underparts are gray and they have a short triangular shaped bill that is orange to yellow.
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| An immature sparrow, at Humboldt Bay NWR. |
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| A mature sparrow. |
Immature birds have the same stripes on the head, but the stripes are brown and gray and make it look like a completely different bird.
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| An immature white-crowned sparrow in Live Oak Canyon on November 15th. |
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| A mature sparrow in Live Oak Canyon, also on November 15. |
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| A mature sparrow in Live Oak Canyon. |
Earlier this year I saw several at the Humboldt Bay NWR, I've seen them in Live Oak Canyon in Redlands, near our home, and I saw a bunch of them in Morongo Valley yesterday.
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| This photo, and those that follow, were taken in Morongo Valley yesterday. This photo, and the next one, are immature birds. Those afterwards are all mature. |
They are really quite beautiful.
That third to the last photo is stunning. I love that you compare the stripes on their heads to a football helmet. That's classic you.
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