White-throated Sparrow Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: White-throated Sparrows are often a pretty common sight during migration, during both the spring and the fall (although it seems like I generally see them more often in the fall). They're a really interesting species with a couple of different color morphs, and I'll show my bias here...it's hard not to pick the brighter, more colorful white-striped version as my favorite photo. This is from the spring of 2019, at Beaver Creek Nature Area in South Dakota, giving a head-on look at that gorgeous plumage pattern on the throat and head.

White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis


White-throated Sparrow 1	White-throated Sparrow 2	White-throated Sparrow 3	White-throated Sparrow 4
September 30th, 2006	September 30th, 2004	November 7th, 2008	November 7th, 2008
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota
"Tan-striped" color morph perched alongside a walking trail	"White-striped" form perched on...some horse manure.	"White-striped" form foraging on the ground amidst oak leaves and acorns	"White-striped" form foraging on a grassy spot

White-throated Sparrow 5	White-throated Sparrow 6	White-throated Sparrow 7	White-throated Sparrow 8
May 16th, 2014	October 2015	May 5th, 2019	May 5th, 2019
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota	Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota
Profile of adult "white-striped" form perched in bright sunlight	"Tan-striped" morph facing into the camera, perched on weed stem	"White-striped" morph in profile, foraging on the ground in the grass	"White-striped" form giving a good look at the namesake throat

White-throated Sparrow 9	White-throated Sparrow 10	White-throated Sparrow 11	White-throated Sparrow 12
May 5th, 2019	May 5th, 2019	May 5th, 2019	October 12th, 2020
Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota	Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota	Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Spring "tan-striped" form foraging on the ground	Both a "tan-striped" and "white-striped" form foraging together on the ground	"White-striped" form foraging for seeds in the grass	"Tan-striped" White-throated sparrow perched in a brushy thicket

White-throated Sparrow 13
October 12th, 2020
Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Adult "white-striped" version in profile, perched on dead branch