{"id":174188,"date":"2026-04-06T05:09:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=174188"},"modified":"2026-04-06T05:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:11:49","slug":"immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/06\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow Molting In Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature White-crowned Sparrow molting in Oklahoma \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I have photographed young of this species molting before in Utah which I wrote about here: Molting Immature White-crowned Sparrows<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This immature bird shows signs of molt in their crown and wing coverts.<\/p>\n

I thought it was interesting that the immature White-crowned Sparrows in Utah and here in Oklahoma both show signs of molt in April.<\/p>\n

White-crowned Sparrows do not breed here in Oklahoma, and they will soon be on the wing to their breeding grounds. That was part of the reason I photographed as many sparrows as I could yesterday.<\/p>\n

As usual, I will miss the winter birds while they are gone, but I’m also excited that spring migrants are arriving at the refuge. The birds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> always keep me smiling.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174184,"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":[14190,13984,15459,4067,2312,2313,4104,855,4195,165,4327,4193,4256],"class_list":["post-174188","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-downed-tree","tag-immature","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-perched","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-young","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Jju","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":163577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/13\/young-white-crowned-sparrow-and-a-november-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":174188,"position":0},"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 "Birds"","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":174188,"position":1},"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 "Birds"","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 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-molt-side-view-mia-mcpherson-4488.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-molt-side-view-mia-mcpherson-4488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-molt-side-view-mia-mcpherson-4488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-molt-side-view-mia-mcpherson-4488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32796,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/16\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-to-adult-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":174188,"position":3},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow Molting To 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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-molting-mia-mcpherson-5660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-molting-mia-mcpherson-5660.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142010,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/26\/immature-white-throated-sparrow-at-miners-cove\/","url_meta":{"origin":174188,"position":4},"title":"Immature White-throated Sparrow At Miner’s Cove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature 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