Stats

Lifespan

3-10 yrs

Size

Medium

Diet

Omnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Flock

Biome

Temperate shrubland

Range

Western North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

A stocky sparrow of the Pacific coast, easily told by the bright yellow patch bordered in black atop its head during breeding season. Its plaintive, descending three-note whistle is often rendered as "oh dear me," a call heard through winter thickets from California to Baja.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passerellidae

Genus

Zonotrichia

Species

Zonotrichia atricapilla