Episode 29: White-Throated Sparrow – Voice of the Wild
White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis).
A big sparrow with unexpected biology and an easy song mnemonic. Look for the yellow spot just ahead of its eye, the namesake white throat, and white or tan stripes over the head. The white-throated sparrow arrives in the fall and is common throughout the winter and into early spring.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- White-throated sparrow song by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML509672)
- White-throated sparrow call by Lewis Kibler (ML509692)
- White-throated sparrow second call by Wil Hershberger (ML509694)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/white-throated-sparrow
- Arnold C. 2016. The sparrow with four sexes. Nature. 539(7630):482–484. https://doi.org/10.1038/539482a.
- Beadle D, Rising Jim. 2002. Sparrows of the United States and Canada : the photographic guide. San Diego: Natural World.
- 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.
- Tuttle EM, Bergland AO, Korody ML, et al. 2016. Divergence and Functional Degradation of a Sex Chromosome-like Supergene. Current Biology. 26(3):344–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.069.