However, this event could serve as an excellent opportunity for the media to photograph students, instructors and birds of prey in a unique learning environment. In fact, one of its other names is Canada sparrow . It appears kind of short-necked and hunched when feeding on the ground. Its underparts are gray and white, with flanks streaked with grayish-brown. It has a rusty brown back with olive-brown rump and tail.
Wings are reddish brown with wing bars of white and black.
A similar species, the white-crowned sparrow lacks the white throat and the yellow spot in front of its eye and generally winters more to the west and breeds up into the Arctic. White-throats spend most of their time on the ground, feeding in forest humus, leaves or in our garden mulch beds under shrubs and other vegetation, feeding mainly on seeds of all kinds. They like thick growths of blackberries, honeysuckle, thick shrubs where they'll also feed on wild berries. They come readily to our feeders, usually feeding on the ground under them, but will go to a feeder if need be. I like to scatter sunflower seeds in and under low shrubs right up against the house.