{"id":116305,"date":"2023-09-27T04:52:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T10:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=116305"},"modified":"2023-09-27T05:20:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T11:20:58","slug":"interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow-adult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/27\/interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow-adult\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow Adult"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was at Farmington Bay WMA on Monday, I found and photographed a gorgeous Interior West White-crowned Sparrow adult perched on a Greasewood shrub. This subspecies is also known as Mountain White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow – Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The White-crowned Sparrow subspecies I typically find in northern Utah is the Gambel’s subspecies, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii. <\/i>I was thrilled to have the Interior West, or Oriantha, Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha, <\/i>subspecies in my viewfinder for a change.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

\"InteriorInterior West White-crowned Sparrow perched in Greasewood \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t have this handsome sparrow in my viewfinder for very long. It was long enough, though, for the bird to move to a more aesthetically pleasing part of the Greasewood. Or at least, that is my opinion.<\/p>\n

The greasewoods can look more than a bit messy at this time of the year. This second spot in the greasewood didn’t display as many bleached-out stems as my first photo shows.<\/p>\n

What all of my images of the bird show are keys to how I identified this sparrow’s subspecies.<\/p>\n

\"White-crownedWhite-crowned Sparrow adult – Interior West subspecies \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The first key feature I noticed was that this sparrow has dark lores, which is the area in front of the eyes and behind the bill. The Gambel’s subspecies does not have dark lores. Second, the bill is more pink\/red than orange\/yellow, which would be the case with the Gambel’s subspecies.<\/p>\n

\"White-crownedWhite-crowned Sparrow at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The photo above, depicting a Gambel’s subspecies White-crowned Sparrow<\/span><\/a>, shows the absence of dark lores and a bill that appears more orange\/yellow in color. I’ve previously shared this photo but wanted to share it again for the purpose of comparison.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, I find it very rewarding when I notice subtle differences among birds in the field. This ability, or skill, has always been beneficial for me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

For geographic variation information please check out this post by David Sibley<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my White-crowned Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was at Farmington Bay WMA on Monday, I found and photographed a gorgeous Interior West White-crowned Sparrow adult perched on a Greasewood shrub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,1022,697,26,356],"tags":[4004,970,6577,4804,4982,4620,1830,3820,14383,6583,4094,7870,4104,1831,6188,855,4195,5422,4095,4327,4256,2665],"class_list":["post-116305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-branches","tag-comparing","tag-comparison","tag-fall","tag-greasewood","tag-interior-west-subspecies","tag-interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-leaves","tag-marsh","tag-mountain-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-perched","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-shrub","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-subspecies","tag-wetlands","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys-oriantha"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/white-crowned-sparrow-fall-mia-mcpherson-1941.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ufT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143217,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-in-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":0},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow In Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm sharing a lingering adult White-crowned Sparrow that I photographed from the deck three days ago. I\u2019d been listening to it sing for several days.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in spring, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-eastern-taiga-miia-mcpherson-9280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-eastern-taiga-miia-mcpherson-9280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-eastern-taiga-miia-mcpherson-9280.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-eastern-taiga-miia-mcpherson-9280.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121898,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/26\/winter-white-crowned-sparrow-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":1},"title":"Winter White-crowned Sparrow Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't seen as many sparrows this winter as I typically do, so I was tickled to take a few White-crowned Sparrow portraits at Farmington Bay WMA on Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter White-crowned Sparrow adult portrait, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128080,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-photos-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":2},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow Photos From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't know I would be taking White-crowned Sparrow photos on my visit to Arkansas, but they do overwinter here. Thankfully, they haven't all migrated yet.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in Arkansas, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1533.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1533.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1533.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-1533.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25463,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/13\/a-wonderful-photo-session-with-a-white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":3},"title":"Wonderful Photo Session with a White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was bright and sunny in the Centennial Valley and after hearing this White-crowned Sparrow singing I felt like breaking out in song too.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing adult White-crowned Sparrow at Red Rock Lakes NWR (Interior West subspecies), Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-1825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-1825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-1825.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-1825.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9466,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/14\/white-crowned-sparrow-on-a-rusty-wire-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":4},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow On A Rusty Wire Fence","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the Centennial Valley of Montana at this time of the year I see plenty of White-crowned Sparrows of the interior west sub-species and although most of them that I see are juveniles there are also adults hanging around foraging too.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow on a wire fence in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana. Interior West subspecies.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15858,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/19\/interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":116305,"position":5},"title":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bird photography isn't easy and for smaller birds like this adult White-crowned Sparrow it can be challenging and require more patience than when photographing larger birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow perched on Western Serviceberry, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}