Episode 28: White-Crowned Sparrow – Voice of the Wild
White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys).
A handsome winter visitor with a crisp cap and a sweet whistle. Look for them starting in October in undisturbed brushy habitats and neighborhoods with good, shrubby cover. While the white-crowned sparrow has different regional dialects, the ones found in the Midwest should sound similar to the primary song and call at the beginning of the episode. To hear the alternate songs, you’ll have to travel farther north or west across the continent.
Cornell’s sound page for the white-crowned sparrow: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/sounds
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- White-crowned Sparrow song by Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg (ML509702)
- White-crowned Sparrow call by Wil Hershberger (ML509703)
- White-crowned Sparrow alternate song #1 by Arthur A. Allen and David G. Allen (ML509709)
- White-crowned Sparrow alternate song #2 by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML509704)
- White-crowned Sparrow alternate song #3 by Leonard J. Peyton (ML509705)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/white-crowned-sparrow
- Dobson, Colin et al. Field Guide to Hotspots and Birds in Illinois. Champaign-Urbana: Scissortail LLC, 2023. Print.
- Godfrey, Michael A, John Farrand, and Roger Tory Peterson. Videoguide to the Birds of North America. New York, N.Y: MasterVision, 1985. Film.
- Peterson, Roger Tory, and Virginia Marie Peterson. A Field Guide to the Birds: A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America. Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980. Print.
- Sibley, David. Sibley Birds East: Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. Second edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. Print.
