White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Passerellidae
The winter sparrow that whistles 'Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada.' Bigger and bolder than most sparrows, with a striking black-and-white striped head, bright yellow lores (in front of the eye), and a clean white throat patch. Two color morphs — white-striped and tan-striped — which nearly always pair with the opposite morph when breeding.
Arrives from northern forests in September; departs by April.
How to spot one.
6–7 inches, medium-sized sparrow
Bold black-and-white (or tan-and-brown) striped crown
Bright yellow spot between the eye and bill
Sharply defined white throat patch
Gray face and breast, streaky brown back
What it sounds like.
Clear, plaintive whistled 'Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada' — or in the American version, 'Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.' Regularly sung in NJ from January onward before migration.
How it lives.
Scratches through leaf litter — the two-footed 'double-scratch' kick that reveals seeds and insects. Forms loose winter flocks with juncos and Song Sparrows. Roosts in dense evergreens.
The spec sheet.
- Status
- Winter visitor
- Size
- 6.3–7.1 inches
- Present in NJ
- September – April
- Native to NJ
- Yes
- Conservation status
- stable
- Family
- Passerellidae
What it eats.
Diet often shifts dramatically between breeding season and the rest of the year — especially for insectivorous birds that pivot to native berries in fall and winter.
Summer / breeding season
Breeds in Canadian and northern US forests
Insects, spiders during breeding
Some seeds and fruit
Fall / winter
Native grass and weed seeds
Berries persistent into winter (sumac, dogwood, wild grape)
Millet and cracked corn on the ground
Black-oil sunflower dropped from feeders
What it needs.
Native plants that feed this bird or provide shelter. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.
Seed source
Seed source
Native grasses
Seed source
Dense shrubs and brush piles
Cover / habitat
Unraked leaf litter for scratching
Cover / habitat
Audubon Field Guide · All About Birds (Cornell)
Other winter visitors.
- JhWinter visitorNative · NJ
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
The 'snowbird.' Slate-gray above, white below, with a sharp bicolor line separating the two — like a dark-hooded monk in a white robe. The most common…
- HpWinter visitorNative · NJ
Purple Finch
Haemorhous purpureus
The native cousin the introduced House Finch is displacing. Purple Finches are rose-red and raspberry — a color often described as 'a sparrow dipped i…