White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium New World sparrow with a grey face, bold black-and-white crown stripes, pink or yellowish bill 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 brushy northern taiga, tundra and western mountains, feeds on seeds and insects on the ground and migrates from northern populations across much of North America to central Mexico. 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).