{"id":166826,"date":"2026-01-14T06:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T12:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=166826"},"modified":"2026-01-14T06:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T12:48:39","slug":"immature-white-crowned-sparrow-in-a-bottomland-hardwood-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/14\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-in-a-bottomland-hardwood-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature White-crowned Sparrow at Sequoyah NWR \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1000, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Late last week, while driving through a forested area of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to photograph an immature White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n

The bottomland hardwood forests at the refuge provide ample shelter and food for sparrows during their nonbreeding season. Photographing them can be challenging, but I often use a stop, sit, and stay approach.<\/p>\n

When I see little birds flitting about on the forest edge, I stop my vehicle, sit still, and stay for a bit, which allows them time to come back out of the scrubby edges. I make sure I’m ready when they do.<\/p>\n

Driving through forested areas fast means missed opportunities. Which, by the way, I don’t like that at all.<\/p>\n

I only see White-crowned Sparrows here during their nonbreeding season<\/span><\/a>, and I try to take advantage of every chance I get with them.<\/p>\n

My time with this immature White-crowned Sparrow was short but memorable.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Late last week, while driving through a forested area of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to photograph an immature White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166823,"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":[27,13973,13974,356],"tags":[14190,13984,4897,4067,4104,855,4195,4327,373,4193,4256],"class_list":["post-166826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-branch","tag-immature","tag-perched","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-winter","tag-young","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-HoK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":174188,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/06\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":166826,"position":0},"title":"Immature 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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 "Birds"","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, 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