{"id":96961,"date":"2021-11-05T04:34:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T10:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=96961"},"modified":"2021-11-05T07:10:27","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T13:10:27","slug":"my-first-white-throated-sparrow-sighting-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/05\/my-first-white-throated-sparrow-sighting-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"My First White-throated Sparrow Sighting In Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"White-throatedWhite-throated Sparrow adult in northern Utah \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I found my first White-throated Sparrow in Utah, photographed it, and when I pointed it out to a friend this sparrow became a lifer for them. I had been photographing House Finches and White-crowned Sparrows when this uncommon feathered visitor popped into my view. As soon as my camera locked on to the sparrow I said “Oh. Wow!” out loud and fired away.<\/p>\n

This species isn’t rare enough here to be on the review list for the Utah Bird Records Committee but they aren’t found all that often either.<\/p>\n

As I focused on taking photos of this bird I was asked how I knew what species it was and I listed a few of the key identification features including the bright, white throat and the yellow spots between the sparrow’s eye and bill.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-throated Sparrow tucked into a greasewood \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have missed seeing this sparrow species and for me it felt like I was seeing and saying hello to an old friend after many years apart.<\/p>\n

White-throated Sparrows used to be regulars during the winter in my garden in Virginia where they delighted me with their songs and calls near my bird feeders. They usually appeared about the same time as the Dark-eyed Juncos that showed up in my garden before the first winter snow fall.<\/p>\n

\"White-throatedWhite-throated Sparrow eating greasewood seeds \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The White-throated Sparrow I found yesterday was busy feeding on the same greasewood seeds that attract the House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows and other small birds.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-throated Sparrow perched on a greasewood \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

An interesting and unusual fact about this species is that White-throated Sparrows are seen in two morphs, white-crowned and tan-crowned. Those morphs persist because they almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph. I would call this sparrow a white-crowned morph.<\/p>\n

\"White-throatedWhite-throated Sparrow adult in Davis County, Utah \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This White-throated Sparrow delighted me and made an otherwise slow bird day exciting. I hope to see and photograph this beautiful sparrow species again soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday I found my first White-throated Sparrow in Utah, photographed it, and when I pointed it out to a friend this sparrow became a lifer for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96940,"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":[27,1022,697,26,12532],"tags":[4004,970,3981,4620,6452,1830,4094,4104,1831,6188,855,4195,30,12534,12533],"class_list":["post-96961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-white-throated-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-davis-county","tag-fall","tag-farmington-bay-wma","tag-greasewood","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-shrub","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-utah-2","tag-white-throated-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-albicollis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-adult-farmington-bay-wma-mia-mcpherson-2496.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pdT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107737,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/04\/white-throated-sparrow-and-a-bittersweet-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":96961,"position":0},"title":"White-throated Sparrow And A Bittersweet Memory","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today marks the one year anniversary of me finding my first, and so far only, White-throated Sparrow perched in a greasewood in Utah at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-throated Sparrow at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/20\/world-sparrow-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":96961,"position":1},"title":"World Sparrow Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.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-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135729,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/16\/fall-brings-white-crowned-and-white-throated-sparrows-to-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":96961,"position":2},"title":"Fall Brings White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows to Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Fall will bring White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows back to Arkansas for their non-breeding season. I\u2019m super excited about their impending arrival.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-throated Sparrow with an eye on me, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-throated-sparrow-arkansas-adult-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-throated-sparrow-arkansas-adult-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-throated-sparrow-arkansas-adult-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-throated-sparrow-arkansas-adult-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137474,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/25\/white-throated-sparrow-on-a-driftwood-perch\/","url_meta":{"origin":96961,"position":3},"title":"White-throated Sparrow On A Driftwood Perch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a single White-throated Sparrow photo this morning, taken two days ago in the early morning. I adore the melodic songs of these sparrows.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-throated Sparrow on driftwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-0829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-0829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/white-throated-sparrow-driftwood-mia-mcpherson-0829.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was visiting Farmington Bay WMA last week, a young Song Sparrow showed up in my viewfinder and perched in a greasewood shrub for a few moments.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Song Sparrow at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/song-sparrow-immature-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-9465.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/song-sparrow-immature-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-9465.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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