The ubiquitous sparrow comes in a nice variety of species in our area. At a distance that do often appear to be "little brown birds" some do have very nice markings when viewed up close.
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White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
At first glance I thought this was also a White-crowned, but despite the white crown it is a White-throated Sparrow. The gold eyebrows caught my attention before noticing the distinctively white throat.
These are migratory and I believe are in Santa Cruz from fall into spring sometime.
I've only seen Savannah Sparrows once. My Merlin guide says they are rare.
Song-sparrows are rather common in our area. You can see these two are singing their hearts out.
This is a Dark-eyed Junco. Don't let the name fool you. According to my Merlin bird guide it is in fact a "sparrow. with incredible variation between populations." This is a fairly common variation in our area.
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