Golden-crowned sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla

Identification Tips:

• Length: 6.25 inches
• Dark, conical bill with pale lower mandible
• Broad black supercilium and yellow crown
• Gray face and underparts
• Tan back with dark streaks
• Brown wings with wing bars
• Long tail
• Sexes similar
• Winter adult duller with less obvious head pattern
• Immature plumage (Fall and Winter) similar to adult but has plain head pattern with just a hint of the golden crown (variable)
• Juvenile plumage (Summer) similar to immature but duller with streaked breast

Similar species:

Adults are unlikely to be confused with other species. Immatures are larger than most sparrows and lack the head patterns of the similarly-sized White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.