The White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a distinctive bird with bold black and white stripes on its head native to North America. Four of the five subspecies – pugetensis, gambelii (Gambel’s) nuttalli, oriantha, and leucophrys – are migratory. The sedentary race lives in a very narrow band along the California coast. White-crowned Sparrows breed in brushy areas near the edge of the tundra, and they winter in a variety of woodlands, brushy areas, parks, and desert washes. White-crowned Sparrows breed in Alaska, Canada, and parts of the western U.S., and they winter over much of the western, central, and southern U.S. and Mexico.
