White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
We recently planted winter grass and have managed to attract large numbers of white-crowned sparrows, a species that I hadn’t seen before here in Tempe.
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tags: White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii,
tags: white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys,
tags: Juvenile Gambel's White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophr
Scientists have long known that birds develop local dialects, but they didn't know that birds' languages can go out of style with the times.
The White Crown normally migrates along the Pacific Coast. A project from Princeton University was done to watch adult and immature White Crowns re-configure their migration flight patterns. They captured a significant number of White Crowns (I think it was 30) in the state of Washington. They brought them to NJ and released them. Allo of those who had made the migration before, were addled for about 24 hours and then headed southwest. They got back on their normal route at someplace like San Diego. Maybe one went through your yard on the way there.
What do I know? Its just a thought and the experiment was real.