Texan White-Crowned Sparrows

Zonotrichia leucophrys

White-Crowned Sparrows, with all of their subspecies (five are recognised), breed from the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin states, north to Alaska and highest latitudes of the Canadian Arctic. These birds thrive at ground level and in low bushes and trees. They are common in the west and not so common in the east. Nests are usually built near the ground on small trees or shrubs, but in the tundra of the high Arctic where there are no shrubs or trees, they will nest on the ground.

Some subspecies are resident and do not migrate, but others travel significant distances each year. For example, the nuttalli subspecies remain year round on the central coast of California, but the gambelii subspecies make journeys from Alaska and Canada to as far south as the southern USA and central Mexico.

I’ve enjoyed encounters with White-Crowned Sparrows during most of my expeditions in the Western USA. In 2005, while on my drive through Canada and Alaska they were common in most of the stops I made along the journey. When I learned that the birds I was meeting were the same subspecies (gambelii) that wintered in my Southern California yard, I gained a greater respect for the lifestyle of these birds. The subjects I met in Big Bend Texas were likely the same subspecies who hadn’t begun their migration to their high latitude summer homes yet.

This gallery shows only those birds I met in Texas. Anyone interested in a wider array of images from around the west should visit the <Species Gallery>.