#birddocumentary golden-crowned sparrow documentary
The golden-crowned sparrow is a large New World sparrow found in the western part of North America.
Like all Zonotrichia sparrows, it has a relatively long, square-tipped tail and a slightly peaked crown. Males and females are similarly plumaged, though males average slightly larger than females. Other than a plain gray nape, the adult's upperparts are grayish-brown, with broad brownish-black streaks on the back and scapulars, and an unstreaked rump. Its underparts are gray, slightly paler on the belly and buffier on the flanks. Its wings and tail are brown, and it shows two white wing bars. Its legs are pale brown, and its bill is dark, with the upper mandible darker than the lower. Its iris is brown.
In the breeding season, it has a broad yellow central crown stripe which becomes pale gray towards the back of the head.
It spends its winters in flocks with conspecifics, but also often with other sparrow species, especially white-crowned sparrows.
Like other Zonotrichia sparrows, it feeds on the ground, where it forages by pecking and scratching.
The breeding season runs from late May through early August. Males on the breeding ground sing throughout the day from an exposed perch. The nest is a bulky cup built by the female. The female typically lays five eggs, though clutches of three to five have been recorded. They are incubated by the female for 11–14 days. The young are altricial—born naked, blind and helpless—but fledge from the nest within 12 days. Both parents feed the young.
