Habitat

In summer, White-throated Sparrows are birds of forests across Canada, the northeastern U.S., and the northern Midwest. Look for them in either coniferous or deciduous forests up to treeline, especially around openings with low, dense vegetation; in areas regrowing after logging, fires, or insect damage; or edges of ponds, meadows, and bogs. During migration and winter, you'll find White-throated Sparrows along edges of woodlots, hedgerows, thickets, weedy fields, suburbs, backyards, and city parks.

Behavior

White-throated Sparrows hop when they're on the ground rather than walking or running. They forage in the leaf litter, often using both feet at once to scratch backwards, then pounce forward at anything they've uncovered. They also toss leaves aside with flicks of the head. During the breeding season the males are aggressive, chasing each other off their territories. "White-striped" forms tend to be more aggressive than "tan-striped" forms. Later in the breeding season this aggressiveness declines, and by fall White-throated Sparrows form large flocks that forage together. Hierarchies, or pecking orders, exist in these winter flocks. Males are typically dominant over females, but whether an individual is white-striped or tan-striped seems to have no bearing on status. When pairing up, white-striped forms tend to choose tan-striped individuals, and vice versa. Pairs stay together for the summer, but birds often choose new partners the next year. White-throated Sparrows take short flights between adjacent branches when foraging and fly with rapid wingbeats.

Food

White-throated Sparrows eat mainly the seeds of grasses and weeds, including ragweed and buckwheat, as well as fruits of sumac, grape, cranberry, mountain ash, rose, blueberry, blackberry, and dogwood. In summer they eat large numbers of insects that they catch on the forest floor or, occasionally on quick flights out from low vegetation. These include dragonflies, wasps, stinkbugs, beetles, flies, and caterpillars, as well as spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and snails. Parents feed their nestlings almost exclusively animal matter. During winter, White-throated Sparrows readily visit bird feeders for millet and black oil sunflower seeds. In spring they eat the tender buds, blossoms, and young seeds of oak, apple, maple, beech, and elm.