White-crowned Sparrow - with a very white head

Mystery bird - looks like a White-crowned Sparrow © SB

An unusual bird visited our Regina, SK, backyard feeder many times this spring — one like nothing I've seen in bird books, but which we think is likely a White-crowned Sparrow with partial albinism.

Its head and neck are white, except for a few fine, lingering black traces on its crown.

Its markings were so striking that I started calling it a Ghost-crowned Sparrow.

At first, it was very timid — as all of the newly arrived migrating sparrows seem to be.

But it quickly realised that this was a fairly safe food source (our cats stay indoors, though others wander through... And a Sharp-shinned Hawk has landed here, too.)

In any case, it settled in for several weeks, then flew on.

White-crowned Sparrow - if that's what it really is - posing in the backyard.  © SB

A beautiful White-crowned Sparrow - with a difference!  © SB

For reference, here is a White-crowned Sparrow with typical markings. Others that arrived this spring are shown a few posts down: White-crowned Sparrows in my Regina backyard - Spring!

A typically coloured (and curious) White-crowned Sparrow   © SB

What are these? White-crowned Sparrows (the one at top seems to have partial albinism).  

Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.  

Photo dates: Top photo, May 6, 2014; others, May 9, 2014.

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White-throated Sparrow - White and Tan Morphs: May Backyard Sparrow, Regina, SK (7)

White morph White-throated Sparrow 
in the apple tree © SB

When I saw the first White-throated Sparrow this year in my Regina, Saskatchewan, backyard, I was puzzled by its markings.

The White-throated Sparrows I'd seen (or noticed, anyway) last year were crisply marked — white head stripes, white throat, yellow lores (spots between the eye and bill).

Even their bright throats were clearly outlined, like the bird at right, one of the later White-throated Sparrows to arrive in my yard.

This year's first arrivals, however, were drab and very generically little-brown-bird.

But when I took shots for identification and displayed them full-screen on my 24-inch monitor — and significantly lightened the exposure, shadows, etc. — I realized these, too, where White-throated Sparrows.

There are a couple of options for the IDs of these browner bird, and perhaps a reader can help clarify this?

1. I've seen several similar White-throated Sparrows on photo websites posted as immature birds, but my Stokes shows the immatures as clearly white-marked... 
2. There are also Tan-morphs of White-throated Sparrows, which my Stokes shows as looking fairly close to the brown birds in my photos, so perhaps that's what these are? And if so, I guess the bright white guys would be white-morphs... 

In any case, that's what I'm leaning to here: #2. Tan morphs. Below. 

And so, this year, both the White and Tan morphs of White-throated Sparrows showed up in my yard. 

Which doesn't seem all that unusual, as apparently mated pairs "almost always include one of each morph." (Sibley guides info on White-Throated Sparrows.)  And these birds pictured above and below were both in the same apple tree... 

Tan morph White-throated Sparrow
in the same apple tree. © SB

Tan morph White-throated Sparrow on the ground. (Even more difficult to see its murky markings) © SB

What are these?  White-throated Sparrows, White morph Tan morph.
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: May 11, 2013. 

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White-Crowned Sparrow: May Backyard Sparrows, Regina (6)

Several White-crowned Sparrows have joined the in-migration flock of birds arriving in our Regina, Saskatchewan, backyard this month.

These native birds are larger than Lincoln's Sparrows and Clay-coloured Sparrows. They are also very dramatic with their clear, sharp colours. (I've noticed them in bushes, my attention attracted just by their bright, white stripes.)

White-Crowned Sparrow in the shade. © SB

White-Crowned Sparrow in the sunlight. © SB

What is this?  White-crowned Sparrow

Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: May 11, 2013. 

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White-crowned Sparrows Return to Regina

White-crowned Sparrows returned to our Regina backyard this weekend — a stop-over on their migration to their northern breeding grounds (Northern Saskatchewan, Yukon, etc.) from their winter patch in the southern U.S.

White-crowned Sparrow, hunting for seeds in my backyard.   © SB 

I love watching new native sparrows and song birds pass through! And I welcome these White-crowned Sparrows, with their crisp black and white head markings, and jittery way of jumping back and forth while foraging for seeds under the feeders.

(And the grass itself has just started to sprout; a week ago, we had snow drifts in our yard.)

What is this? White-crowned Sparrow.
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.  

Photo date: May 7, 2013.

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White-Crowned Sparrows in Regina

A new bird has been at our Regina, Saskatchewan, feeder this week: A White-Crowned Sparrow. At least, I'm convinced there is only one of these sparrows in the midst of all the House Sparrows and House Finches. 

This little White-Crowned Sparrow seems shyer than the others, but still quite happy to hang out, sheltering in the lilacs and seeking seeds on the ground. 

White-Crowned Sparrow in lilac branches © SB 

My new Audubon bird app indicates that White-Crowned Sparrows winter in the southern U.S., and migrate through the Prairies to their summer breeding grounds in the North. My iBird app tells me that the White-Crowned Sparrow is one of the best-studied songbirds in North America; much of our knowledge of bird song (and, says Audubon, of the physiology of migration — which makes me suspect knives in both these studies) comes from this bird.

As neutral as the White Crown's colouring is, this bird stands out from the others. While the rest of its body — pale gray and brown — blends with its surroundings, its stark black and white head markings seem vibrant and bright, even in late evening light.

White-Crowned Sparrow eating sunflower seeds © SB 

What is this?  White-Crowned Sparrow 
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Photo date: April 27, 2012. 

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