{"id":60978,"date":"2019-10-23T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60978"},"modified":"2025-10-21T18:40:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T23:40:34","slug":"white-crowned-sparrow-adult-perched-in-a-hackberry-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/23\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-perched-in-a-hackberry-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"White-crowned Sparrow Adult Perched In A Hackberry Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow about two weeks ago in northern Utah while it perched on a hackberry tree on a hill with blooming rabbitbrush in the background.<\/p>\n

The sparrow was some distance away from me and normally I wouldn’t have taken a photo of it but I really liked how the yellow out of focus rabbitbrush blooms broke up the blue sky behind the hackberry tree and the bird.<\/p>\n

The leaves of the hackberry were just beginning to start turning to their autumn colors and the berries added just a touch of red to the frame.<\/p>\n

I’d really prefer to have the sparrow larger in the frame but in this case I like it small because it shows more of the leaves, fruits and some of the habitat I find these sparrows in.<\/p>\n

It is wonderful to see the White-ground Sparrows at lower elevations again and to listen to them singing<\/span><\/a> from the tops of trees and shrubs. Their songs sound a little different to my ears during this time of the year compared to early spring when they are getting ready to go into breeding season. Both male and female White-crowned Sparrows<\/span><\/a> sing but the females sing less loudly and their songs are more variable.<\/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

Note: This is an\u00a0Interior West White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha<\/em>)\u00a0which is also sometimes called the Mountain White-crowned Sparrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow about two weeks ago in northern Utah while it perched on a hackberry tree on a hill with blooming rabbitbrush in the background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161214,"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":[27,1148,26,356],"tags":[4004,970,6098,2069,9874,4620,7672,7837,2668,7870,4104,4289,855,4195,4427,4327,4256,2665],"class_list":["post-60978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-blooming","tag-blue-sky","tag-celtis-reticulata","tag-fall","tag-fruits","tag-hackberry","tag-interior-west","tag-mountain-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-tree","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\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fRw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48806,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/06\/adult-white-crowned-sparrow-on-blooming-rabbitbrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":60978,"position":0},"title":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow on Blooming Rabbitbrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When I spotted this White-crowned Sparrow perched on a blooming rabbitbrush yesterday I quickly swung my lens toward it, focused and started taking photos as quickly as I could.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow on rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-1939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-1939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-1939.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-1939.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/24\/adult-white-crowned-sparrow-on-a-fence-with-rabbitbrush-in-the-background\/","url_meta":{"origin":60978,"position":1},"title":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow On A Fence With Rabbitbrush In The Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thinking back on brighter days this morning and decided to share this photo of an adult White-crowned Sparrow perched on a fence with the bright yellow blooms of rabbitbrush in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-crowned Sparrow on a fence with blooming rabbitbrush in the background, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow perched in rabbitbrush in Northern Utah, Box Elder County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4245.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4245.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4245.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4245.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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