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Golden-crowned Sparrow | Zonotrichia atricapilla
Goudkruingors | Gorrión corona dorada
The Golden-crowned Sparrow is a large, brownish-grey sparrow with a yellow forecrown. It breeds in Alaska and western Canada and winters along the Pacific coast of North America. In the guide area it occurs mainly in winter in northern Baja California.
Voice
The song consists of three or four whistled, descending notes in a minor key, like ee-oo-ee; in late spring also heard on the wintering grounds. The call is a flat, sharp chip and a thin tseet.
Recording: Anne McCormack — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
15–18 cm. Large, with a fairly long tail and a grey to horn-coloured bill. Adults in breeding plumage have a black cap with a bright yellow forecrown that shades into grey behind. In winter the black on the head is browner and less extensive and the yellow smaller and duller; young birds have a brown crown with only a faint yellow wash at the front. Face and underparts grey to brownish grey, flanks brownish. Back brown with dark streaks, two narrow white wing-bars.
Confusion species
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys has a black-and-white striped head (brown and buff in young birds), a pink to yellow bill and no yellow on the crown. White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis has a sharply defined white throat and a yellow spot in front of the eye. Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca has a heavily spotted breast.
Habitat
In winter chaparral, coastal sage scrub, dense shrubs along fields and streams, gardens and parks. It lives in flocks, often with White-crowned Sparrows, and takes seeds, buds and young shoots on the ground and in low shrubs, never far from cover.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Breeds in Alaska and western Canada, in scrub at the treeline. Winters along the Pacific coast from southern British Columbia to northern Baja California. In the guide area mainly in north-western Baja California; further south in Baja California and in Sonora scarce or irregular.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In winter best found by checking flocks of White-crowned Sparrows along scrub edges and in gardens in north-western Baja California; Golden-crowned Sparrow stands out by its larger, browner head without white stripes.
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC). Common in western North America; in the guide area limited to the north-west as a winter visitor.
Scientific name
Zonotrichia atricapilla | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Emberiza atricapilla; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Zonotrichia was introduced in 1832 by Swainson. Zonotrichia is Greek, from zōnē 'band' and thrix 'hair'. atricapilla is Latin, from ater 'black' and -capillus '-capped', after the black borders of the golden crown. The specimen the first description was based on came from Prince William Sound, Alaska.