{"id":42663,"date":"2016-10-16T06:52:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T12:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42663"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:49:39","slug":"white-crowned-sparrows-in-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/16\/white-crowned-sparrows-in-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"White-crowned Sparrows in Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Weather<\/p>\n

Weather October 16, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

The weather today is a bit unsettled, strong winds, some rain, some snow in the higher country with more bad weather to come and it made me think about winter arriving and photographing birds in the snow.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile White-crowned Sparrow perched on a mound of snow – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last winter I photographed adult and juvenile White-crowned Sparrows in the snow in low light conditions and was pleased with the resulting photos. I didn’t get around to processing these two images until months after the day I photographed them on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> so I thought I would share them today.<\/p>\n

The juvenile White-crowned Sparrow is definitely small in the frame in this photo but I liked the great big mound of snow and how the young sparrow is peeking out of it with its body half covered plus the contrast of its brown plumage against the white snow.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow on a snowy perch – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The adult White-crowned Sparrow perched higher on the snow so more of its body shows and even though it is also small in the frame I like the snowy environment this photo shows too along with the branches of the greasewood poking out.<\/p>\n

White-crowned Sparrows are tough little birds and somehow even when the snow is deep on the ground here in northern Utah they find enough food to get them through the winter.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last winter I photographed adult and juvenile White-crowned Sparrows in the snow in low light conditions and was pleased with the resulting photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[511,27,1022,26,356],"tags":[4004,4067,4071,156,4104,4043,4050,4328,4195,4327,373,4256],"class_list":["post-42663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-low-light-2","tag-perched","tag-small-in-frame","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-sparrows","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-winter","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-snow-mia-mcpherson-7561.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-b67","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1511,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":42663,"position":0},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"White-crowned Sparrows are one of the many birds that I see often during the cold winters of northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a cold day in northern Utah.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-juvenile-6756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-juvenile-6756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Snow?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"So, is this the year that the Grinch stole winter?","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-crowned Sparrow juvenile on a cold winter day in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-8521.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-snow-mia-mcpherson-8521.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-8521.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"December 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the food items that White-crowned Sparrows depend on during the harsh winters in Utah are the fluffy seeds of the Rabbitbrush that can be covered in hoar frost.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-crowned Sparrow juvenile on Rabbitbrush at Farmington Bay WMA in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-8438.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-immature-mia-mcpherson-8438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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