The White-Crowned Sparrow Chronicles

This gallery contains 3 photos. This reclusive little darling was industriously picking birdseed off the lawn on a warm April 9th. Compared to the other, more “established” birds in our backyard, the White-Crowned Sparrow is still a bit camera shy. Its personal space is about 8-15 feet.

It will eat with most others (unlike the spunky House Sparrow, who was picking a fight with the much larger Spotted Towhee). Or maybe it’s a newbie, and that’s the reason why it’s so pacific. Here it is, fraternizing with a female Dark-Eyed Junco. Quite the irony, since it’s been documented that one of the few bird species that the White-Crowned Sparrow will bully when it comes to food is a Junco!!

So far, I’ve only spotted three of them — two adults, and a third that was an immature/juvenile with brown facial stripes (instead of black) in late winter. Hopefully more will come as the weather warms up!