{"id":142010,"date":"2025-03-26T02:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T07:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=142010"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:12:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:12:23","slug":"immature-white-throated-sparrow-at-miners-cove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/26\/immature-white-throated-sparrow-at-miners-cove\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature White-throated Sparrow At Miner&#8217;s Cove"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time ever, two days ago, I took a photo at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/sequoyah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in Oklahoma of an immature White-throated Sparrow that I actually liked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-142007 size-full\" title=\"Immature White-throated Sparrow in a shrub at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg\" alt=\"Immature White-throated Sparrow in a shrub at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Immature White-throated Sparrow in a shrub at Miner&#8217;s Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1250, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If White-throated Sparrows are anything like their cousins, the White-crowned Sparrows, this little beauty should start to molt next month and begin to look like the adults of this species.<\/p>\n<p>White-throated Sparrows were a rare sight for me in Utah, I only found one once. But here in Arkansas and Oklahoma, I&#8217;ve been able to see them all winter. I was hoping to photograph a young one, and my hope was fulfilled!<\/p>\n<p>Before long, this young White-throated Sparrow will head to its breeding grounds north of here. I&#8217;ll miss these beautiful sparrows and their <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/792206\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">songs and calls<\/span><\/a> while they are gone.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know what kind of tree or shrub the sparrow is perched on. If you know, please let me know! The young sparrow was eating what appear to be the seed pods of this tree or shrub. I tried to look up the shrub but was not successful. My closest guess is a native Hop Tree (<em>Ptelea trifoliata<\/em>) but I&#8217;m not certain, at all, about that identification.<\/p>\n<p>I thoroughly enjoyed photographing the immature White-throated Sparrow as it ate the seed pods.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/white-throated-sparrow-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see my White-throated Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time ever, two days ago, I took a photo at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma of an immature White-throated Sparrow that I actually liked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142007,"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":[27,13973,13974,12532],"tags":[14190,13984,498,4067,14047,4104,13191,2135,6188,855,4195,165,4427,12534,4193,12533],"class_list":["post-142010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-white-throated-sparrows","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-buds","tag-immature","tag-miners-cove","tag-perched","tag-seed-pods","tag-seeds","tag-shrub","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring","tag-tree","tag-white-throated-sparrow","tag-young","tag-zonotrichia-albicollis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AWu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166101,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/25\/happy-holidays-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":0},"title":"Happy Holidays 2025","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not sure where 2025 went, but I know it seemed to be the holiday season a bit too fast. 2026 will appear in the blink of an eye.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Happy Holidays - Pink sunrise over Lower Scarborough Slough, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-pink-mia-mcpherson-3153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-pink-mia-mcpherson-3153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-pink-mia-mcpherson-3153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-pink-mia-mcpherson-3153.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":162642,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/03\/swamp-sparrow-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":1},"title":"Swamp Sparrow At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was tickled to take photos of a Swamp Sparrow perched on a Smooth Sumac branch in early morning light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swamp Sparrow perched on a sumac branch, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swamp-sparrow-autumn-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swamp-sparrow-autumn-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9764.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swamp-sparrow-autumn-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9764.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swamp-sparrow-autumn-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9764.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174188,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/06\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":2},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow Molting In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I had this immature White-crowned Sparrow in my viewfinder at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge long enough to realize she or he was molting.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow molting in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":165532,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/10\/low-light-savannah-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":3},"title":"Low Light Savannah Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a few minutes photographing this Savannah Sparrow in the shadow of my Jeep yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light Savannah Sparrow, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/savannah-sparrow-sequoyah-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3070.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/savannah-sparrow-sequoyah-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3070.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/savannah-sparrow-sequoyah-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3070.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/savannah-sparrow-sequoyah-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3070.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":163577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/13\/young-white-crowned-sparrow-and-a-november-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":4},"title":"Young White-crowned Sparrow And A November Sunrise","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am sharing White-crowned Sparrow photos, plus a bonus Arkansas River sunrise image taken yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young White-crowned Sparrow at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166826,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/14\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-in-a-bottomland-hardwood-forest\/","url_meta":{"origin":142010,"position":5},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last week, while driving through a forested area of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to photograph an immature White-crowned Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.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\/142010","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=142010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}