White Crowned Sparrow

[kastern]

Saw a White Crowned Sparrow over at Eagle Point Park about supper time last night. The first of the season. There were at least seven Gold Crowned and the White Crowned was mixed in with them.

Kathy

[JeffOver]

I live in Chilliwack. We seem to have white-crowned sparrows all winter, and then they disappear for the summer. Do many white-crowned sparrows in Chilliwack migrate to Eagle Point Park? Or am I just blind to them in the summer?
Jeff

[tmanson]

Jeff: I never have any on my property in the winter, but they seem to like my place in the summer, because they definitely breed in the area. Funny what a difference a few miles can make. I guess we won't call White crowned Sparrows long distance migrants!! Thor

Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.

[Deleted]

We have White-crowned Sparrows in our yard in urban Abbotsford sporadically every winter, but they're not around in the summer, although they are around in rural areas nearby.

Aren't there two different subspecies of White-crowned Sparrow in this area, one breeding and one wintering? I hear two different songs, one in the spring, briefly, and the other through the summer.

Every spring I look up the information and every spring I've forgotten which is which and have to look it all up again. I do remember that none of the books is very helpful in separating the two subspecies under discussion.

Stan

[kastern]

Normal routine for White-crowned Sparrows over here in Harrison Mills, is totally absent in winter, usually have quite a few move through in April and a few stay around and breed in the area, then again we get quite a few moving through in September/October. One winter I had a Gold-Crown stay all winter but most winters they are totally absent too, move through in April, don't see them again until the fall. I've kept daily records since 1999 and thats the routine I've observed. The new developments adjacent to Eagle Point park were a very popular 'sparrow place' all last year because it was all tall weeds but it's pretty much all bull- dozed now. I haven't yet had either a Gold-crowned or a White-crowned in my backyard this year.

Kathy

[Deleted]

Well, I should have looked it up again before posting yesterday. I was quite thoroughly mixed up. (Maybe I still am!)

It seems there's one subspecies of White-crowned Sparrow WCSP (gambelii) that breeds further north in BC and up the Alaska coast, and according to Rising & Beadle, and Byers, Curson & Olsson (Pyle is ambiguous), winters way to the south, California or beyond. They're the ones that move through here on migration.

There's another subspecies (pugetensis) that breeds in SW BC and winters down the US coast, and remains here in small numbers through the winter. Probably most pugetensis arrive back here later in the spring than migrating gambelii move through.

There was one adult WCSP in my yard this morning with a very orange bill, probably gambelii, in contrast to the pugetensis that have a more yellowish bill. I've been hearing the gambelii song the last few days also, but have yet to hear a pugetensis song this spring.

So it would seem to me that the general pattern locally would be pugetensis present year round, much less abundant in winter than summer, with a good movement of gambelii going through for a fairly short period in the spring, around this time, and in the fall.

Obviously pugetensis prefers different habitat for nesting and wintering. Hence the experiences related above. This fits with my experience too.

It is possible to distinguish them in many cases by bill colour and a few other less obvious characteristics, but not all individuals are distinguishable based on visual characteristics.

Songs, however, are very different, and conclusive in separating the two subspecies. I even notice a distinct difference between pugetensis songs in the central Fraser Valley and pugetensis songs at coastal locations like Iona and Boundary Bay.

I'm no expert, but I have been somewhat interested in the subspecies of WCSP for a few years, and I'm not totally convinced that the WCSP I see in the winter are all pugetensis. I wonder if some are gambelii. I should be more careful in observing.

Admittedly, they often have bills that are neither yellow or orange but somewhere between, and of course they don't sing in winter, so it's usually hard to be certain which subspecies they are.

Anyone else?

Stan

[Gord]

Good info Stan. That's about all and more then I know on the subject!

Enjoyed reading it.

[kastern]

Finally have White Crowned Sparrows (with yellow bill) showing up in my yard now and seeing them regularly over at Eagle Point.

Kathy