Golden-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) is a large New World sparrow with a yellow crown bordered by black in breeding adults, a plain grey face and streaked brown back. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in western North American tundra and shrubland, forages on the ground for seeds, shoots and insects and migrates south along the Pacific coast, sometimes appearing far outside its usual range. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).