Strange that this bird will change so much when it is an adult. ( photo / image / picture from Kildale's Garden ) This young white crowned sparrow will look like this one shortly. ( photo / image / picture from Kildale's Garden )
At first I thought... what is the bird doing that makes him so immature? Playing a dumb joke on another bird? It has pretty markings... both young and grown up.
The youngster looks like a stroppy teenager with the expression it has. They are rather good looking when they have their adolescent plumage but I much prefer the adult colouring.
Hi. Very similar to our House and Tree Sparrows ( what's left of them) except in these the male has no white crown stripe - just the black cap and also a black throat bib - the females have neither. Sadly their numbers have decreased alarmingly here now - where we live theres a small colony just down the road in some bushes otherwise hardly ever see any. A little story - years ago in the army I served in the middle east and amongst all the tents there was a few buildings which had quire a few of these Sparrows - nice to wake up and hear them chirping away outside - a bit of home from home. Syd.
