White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
9-10 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Omnivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Flock
Biome
Temperate forest
Range
North America
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

The White-throated Sparrow sports a crisp white throat patch and yellow lores, and comes in two genetically distinct color morphs — white-striped and tan-striped — that pair almost exclusively with the opposite morph when mating. Its clear, whistled song is often remembered as "Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada."

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.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Passerellidae
Genus
Zonotrichia
Species
Zonotrichia albicollis