The White Sparrows
Many sparrow species in the United States, and there are even over 11 in Ohio alone. Two, however have white in the name: the White-Throated Sparrow and the White-Crowned Sparrow.
These both birds are only residents to Ohio during the winter months, but are quite different in plumage variations. The white-crowned sparrow is a normal brown sparrow, except for the cap. The cap has a central white stripe, and a black stripe on either side, and then another white stripe beside each one, and lastly, another black stripe by each white stripe. The last stripe results as an eye stripe, since it goes through the eye.
The white-throated sparrow, however, also looks like a normal sparrow except for the head area. The white-throated sparrow, as the name implies, has a prominent, entirely white throat, but almost as noticeable as the throat is a bright yellow eyebrow mark above each eye.
Right now I have two white-crowned sparrows as regular visitors to my hanging tray feeders. They are eating my home made bacon suet and the have found somthing else they like ( I don't know what). There are also about 10-12 white-throated sparrows hanging around near the woods that come out every evening once it is to dark to get a quality photo. Grrrrrr!
Both species will come to ground feeders, hanging tray feeders, or platform feeders stocked with appropriate foods for each species. Not much else to say, so I will end this entry with a photo I took of each.
White-Throated Sparrow:
White-Crowned Sparrow (mature)
One last fact I will address is the fact that mature and juvenile white-crowned sparrows are different in crown color. The adults are white (of course) and the juvenile white-crowned sparrows have pink-tan colored colored stripes, not white.