White-crowned Sparrow
(Zonotrichia leucophrys) Y |
 |
RANGE: Breeds throughout Alaska, the northern
regions of Canada surrounding the Arctic Ocean-Hudson Bay
region, east to the Atlantic, south through the Yukon and
British Columbia, through the Rocky Mountains, west to the
Pacific Coast and the Sierra Nevada's. Winters throughout most of
the United States, except Florida and the northern Great Plains,
and in Mexico.
STATUS: Abundant.
HABITAT: Frequents valleys, brushy hillsides, roadside
vegetation, and cultivated fields. In arctic regions, inhabits
open stunted tree growth and brushlands. Uses edge habitats and
brush piles during winter.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Thickets, hedgerows, or edge.
Strongest nesting habitat associations in (1) Aspen
groves, (2) Coastal headland grass and shrubland, and (3)
Coastal dunes and ponds with widely scattered shrubs and trees.
NEST: Often builds nest consisting of grassy materials, mosses,
and lichens, lined with rootlets or animal hairs, placing it on
the ground in a moss or lichen bed, in grassy areas, but
sometimes on the lower branches of shrubbery. Most nests are
well concealed and difficult to locate.
FOOD: Obtains both plant and animal foods by scratching in the
soil. Eats the fruiting bodies of mosses, as well as a variety
of seeds, and capitalizes on outbreaks of insects.
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, Beal and McAtee 1912, Forbush
and May 1955, Miller 1999, Shunk 2004. |
