Description
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow is a smallish sparrow at 5.25 inches (13.681321093381 cm) in length, with males tending to be larger than females. It ranges from 15 to 23 grams (0.53 to 0.81 oz) in weight and averages about 19 grams (0.67 oz). It has a brown back with darker streaks and gray underparts. Its wings are short, rounded, and brown and lack wingbars, or a line of feathers of a contrasting color in the middle of the bird's wing. The sparrow's tail is long, brown, and rounded. The face and supercilium (the area above the eye) are gray with a brown or rufous streak extending from each eye and a thick black streak on each cheek. The crown ranges from rufous to chestnut, a feature which gives it its common name, and some subspecies have a gray streak running through the center of the crown. The bill is yellow and cone-shaped. The sparrow's throat is white with a dark stripe. Its legs and feet are pink-gray. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the juvenile Rufous-crowned Sparrow has a brown crown and numerous streaks on its breast and flanks during the spring and autumn.
The song is a short, fast, bubbling series of chip notes that can accelerate near the end, and the calls include a nasal chur and a thin tsi. When threatened or separated from its mate, the sparrow makes a dear-dear-dear call.
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