Species Profile:
White-throated Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is found at one season or another throughout most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. The clear, whistled song, often written as "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada" is familiar to anyone who spends time in Ontario's cottage country.

During migration and in winter White-throats often visit feeders, where their favourite food is millet, but they also eat many grass and weed seeds as well as some fruit. In early spring, they eat a variety of buds, but insects form a larger proportion of their diet as they become more abundant. Their nest is a bulky open cup of woven grasses, twigs, wood chips and needles, lined with finer materials. Nests are usually on or slightly above the ground, and are well-concealed from above by overlying vegetation. Four eggs are commonly laid of a very pale or greenish blue, speckled or blotched with chestnut-red or purple.

Although White-throats are common breeding birds in eastern Canada, they are migratory, and most spend the winter in the southeastern United States. During migration, they take off at dusk and fly during the night, as do most sparrows. Unfortunately, during their spring and especially fall migrations, many are killed by flying into lit buildings. (They are one of the most common species found by FLAP.) This probably reflects their abundance rather than any special tendency to fly into buildings.

The White-throated Sparrow is one of the most variable of American sparrows. Unlike some sparrows (such as towhees and longspurs) there is little sexual difference in plumage colour (females are a bit duller on average). They are, however, polymorphic, i.e. they come in two different colour types or "morphs": tan and white. White morphs have a bright white throat, and white stripe above the eye and median crown stripe, whereas tan morphs have a whitish throat, but tan striping otherwise. Although they generally have unstreaked underparts as adults, some individuals (especially females) have distinct, if faint, streaking. Males are slightly larger than females (the wing lengths of males are 69-78mm while females' are 64-72mm).

White-throats can be mistaken for their cousins, White-crowned Sparrows which also have black and white-striped heads. White-crowns are somewhat larger, slimmer birds with a grey neck & throat and a yellowish bill (White-throats have a brownish bill). But what really sets them apart is the trademark yellow spot between the bill and the eye of the White-throat.

James Rising
Jim is Professor of Ornithology at the University of Toronto. He has a special interest in sparrows.