White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Allan Hansel, September 2017.

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys. Photograph taken within the greater Palm Springs area of southern California, March 2021. Photography courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha. Photographs taken within the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, January 2024. Photographs courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California. Identifications courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, January 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, is a member of the Passerellidae Family of New World Sparrows. They are small in stature. In Mexico they winter visitors to the northern sections of the country including in the coastal regions within the Atlantic Slope of the state of Tamaulipas, and within the Pacific Slope for the entire Baja and from Sonora to Nayarit and then extending into the central plateau with their southern boundary being northern Michoacán and Hidalgo. There are five known subspecies of White-crowned Sparrow, three of which are found in Mexico.  The gambelii subspecies is found in northern Mexico south to Nayarit Aguacalientes and San Luis Potosí.  The leucophrys subspecies is found in northern Mexico south to Sonora; and, the oriantha subspecies is found in northern Mexico within Baja California and Baja California Sur and south to Jalisco, Michoacán, Quéretaro, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León.

From a conservation perspective the White-crowned Sparrow is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are found in the trees along the banks of lakes and slow-flowing large rivers. They are plunge divers that consume fish and crustaceans, supplementing their diets with amphibians and insects. They are found in grain fields, near roadsides, and close to thickets and shrubbery for cover. Their primary diet is plant material which includes seeds, small grains, and fruit that is supplemented with insects.