There doesn't seem to be much information about these birds out there.... so, let's get started. The older ones develop a dark unibrow so if you want a photo of a cute Golden-crowned Sparrow get them while they are young. These birds are shy but not the shyest of the bunch. Bigger birds push them around. They make spaceship noises more often than they sing "No gold here..." They only visit Southern California during migration. They stay in small flocks and hang out with the White-crowned Sparrows and the oddball White-throated Sparrow. The Templars kept them in gilded cages on their sea journeys for good luck. ( reference: The Curse of Oak Island.)
"Seven Golden-crowned Sparrows returned to their wintering grounds with tags and harness missing. We strongly suspect that these individuals were successful at removing their tags simply by picking at the fibrous Kevlar thread harness, as indicated by the condition of harnesses on recaptured tagged birds during both seasons. Hence, we suggest that alternate harness materials be used for this (and likely other) thick-billed species...."
Establishing the Breeding Provenance of a Temperate-Wintering North American Passerine, the Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Using Light-Level Geolocation
journals.plos.org
Loading contexts...