Original description: Emberiza atricapilla Gmelin 1789
Taxonomic history in AOU/AOS Check-list
AOU 1 (1886): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia coronata
AOU 2 (1895): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia coronata
AOU 3 (1910): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia coronata
AOU 4 (1957): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia coronata
AOU 5 (1957): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
AOU 6 (1983): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
AOU 7 (1998): Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia atricapilla
IUCN Conservation Status: Of least concern
Behavior:This is a shy sparrow of dark thickets, in winter feeding in loose flocks of up to a few dozen beneath brambles and on dense woodland edges. These flocks may also include Spotted Towhees and Fox, Song, and White-crowned Sparrows, but are usually composed mostly of Golden-crowneds. The patient observer may see them emerge onto a patch of lawn or bare soil, but even when they perch briefly on a fence or low treetop, Golden-crowned Sparrows are rarely encountered far from thick cover, fleeing with strong shallow wing beats when disturbed. Singing males are more confident, perching in the open on brambles or even atop small trees.
Voice: The frequently heard call note of the Golden-crowned Sparrow year-round is a dull, unvoiced tep, sometimes recalling a giant Black-throated Gray Warbler and usually easily distinguished from the brighter, more metallic notes of White-crowned Sparrows; it is shorter, thinner, and drier than the husky chep of the Song Sparrow. This species also gives a sharp, slightly wavering tzeeet similar to that of the other Zonotrichia sparrows, both in flight and as a warning when perched in cover. Feeding birds call chip, churr, and plear, plear, plear, and there is, at least on the wintering grounds, a long, sweet, almost goldfinch-like descending whistle. Flocks occasionally engage in a sputtering jumble of calls, mixing tep notes with lower, fuller chips.
The well-known whistled song of the Golden-crowned Sparrow shares the wistful tone of the White-throated and Harris Sparrows. The three notes descending by whole steps are easily set to words, classically rendered “Mar-y had…” or “Three blind mice….” “To the miners carrying their packs along the Alaska gold trails, the constantly repeated plaintive notes seemed to say ‘I’m so weary’,” while the truly discouraged heard the birds warning them “No gold here.”
An especially appealing variant of the song begins with a typical breathy whistle, followed by two rapid whistles on the same pitch and a soft, loose trill: peer peer-peer drdrdr. In place of that terminal trill, some birds sing two slower whistles on nearly the same pitch, producing a song of five syncopated notes: peer peer-peer peer peer.
Detailed description and measurements drawn from standard reference works
Adult: Tail feathers dark brown with faint, very narrow chestnut or brownish edges. Upper tail coverts, rump, and lower back unstreaked olive brown. Feathers of upper back and scapulars with wide black centers and soft gray or brown-gray edges. Primaries and secondaries dark brown with narrow gray-brown edges; faint secondary panel on folded wing. Tertials largely blackish, inner web narrowly edged white, outer edge more broadly edged chestnut becoming white near tip. Greater coverts blackish with bold white tips on outer web, inner two or three with broad chestnut-brown edges on both webs. Median coverts blackish with bold white tips. Two conspicuous jagged or dotted white wing bars. Nape pale brown-tinged gray with variable faint streaking or mottling.
Under tail coverts dull light brownish with pale buffy edges. Vent and central belly whitish; flanks and breast sides light buffy brown, often with obscure short brownish streaks. Center of breast pale brownish gray, the feathers sometimes very faintly edged whitish, creating slightly scaled appearance in good views. Throat paler and slightly more whitish, sometimes bordered by very fine lateral stripe. Jaw stripe and ear coverts plain dull tan in basic plumage, pale brownish gray in alternate.
Center of crown unstreaked yellow to golden, brighter on average in males than in females and in alternate than in basic plumage. Rear of crown pale brown or brownish gray in basic plumage, bright whitish or silvery gray in alternate. Remainder of crown, including forehead, black or, in basic plumage, mottled and scaled black and grayish brown. In basic plumage, variable supercilium dull tan or brown, widest behind eye; block of crown extends to supercilium in alternate plumage. Ear coverts divided from jaw stripe by barely visible dusky whisker. Fine white eye ring complete below the eye, obscure above.
Birds in formative (first-winter) plumage similar, but head pattern less colorful and more diffuse. Often more obviously streaked beneath, probably remnant of juvenile plumage.
Tarsus and toes yellowish or pinkish brown. Rather large, thick-based bill blackish above, purplish or dark pinkish black below; darker in breeding season.
Juvenile: Tail feathers dark brown with faint, very narrow chestnut or brownish edges. Upper tail coverts, rump, and lower back olive brown with variable coarse dark streaks. Feathers of upper back and scapulars with wide black centers and soft gray or brown-gray edges. Primaries and secondaries dark brown with narrow buffy edges; faint secondary panel on folded wing. Tertials blackish, inner web narrowly edged white, outer edge more broadly edged brown becoming white near tip. Greater coverts blackish with bold white tips on outer web, inner two or three with broad chestnut-brown edges on both webs. Median coverts blackish with bold white tips. Two conspicuous jagged or dotted white wing bars. Nape pale brown with variable fine streaking.
Under tail coverts dull light brownish with pale buffy edges. Vent and central belly yellowish gray; flanks and breast sides light buffy brown, coarsely marked with short dark brown streaks. Center of breast pale buffy brown, sparsely marked with short dark brown streaks. Throat unstreaked, paler and slightly more whitish, bordered by narrow dark lateral stripe. Jaw stripe and ear coverts plain dull brown.
Center of crown buffy to yellowish with fine dark brown streaks. Rear of crown pale brown to brownish gray with fine dark brown streaks. Broad, messy lateral crown stripe dark brown with blackish streaks or blotches. Supercilium dull brown, widest behind eye and narrowest above brown lore. Ear coverts divided from jaw stripe by dusky whisker. Fine white eye ring, complete or broken by dark lower margin of supercilium.
Birds in formative (first-winter) plumage similar, but head pattern less colorful and more diffuse. Often more obviously streaked beneath, probably remnant of juvenile plumage.
Tarsus and toes yellowish or pinkish brown. Rather large, thick-based bill dark brown above, dark yellowish or pinkish below.
Length 164-186 mm (6.5-7.3 inches)
Wing chord 80-91 mm (3.1-3.6 inches)
Tail 77-86 mm (3.0-3.4 inches)
W:T 1.06
Mass 32 g
