Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

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- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Vertebrates - Craniata
    - Class - Birds - Aves
      - Order - Songbirds - Passeriformes
        
        Family - New World Sparrows - Passerellidae
        
        Species - White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis

White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNA

Agency Status
USFWS: MBTA
USFS:
BLM:
PIF:

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General Description

We do not yet have descriptive information on this species. Please try the buttons above to search for information from other sources.

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Species Range

Montana Range Range Descriptions

All Ranges

Winter

Migratory

(Click legend blocks to view individual ranges)

Western Hemisphere Range

eBird Occurrence Map

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Courtesy of

and

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 1953

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)

Direct Evidence of Breeding

Indirect Evidence of Breeding

No Evidence of Breeding

WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)

Regularly Observed

Not Regularly Observed

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species

Forest and Woodland

Deciduous Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Aspen Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Mesic Forest and Woodland

Rocky Mountain Aspen Forest and Woodland

Low Elevation - Xeric Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland

Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland

Montane - Subalpine Forest and Woodland

Cedar - Hemlock Forest

Dry Spruce-fir Forest

Interior PNW Douglas-fir Forest and Woodland

Lodgepole Pine Forest

Montane Mesic Coniferous (Grand Fir - Douglas-fir - Western Larch) Forest

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir Forest

Whitebark Pine - Subalpine Larch Forest and Woodland

Shrubland

Foothills - Montane Shrubland

Lowland - Montane Shrubland

Montane - Subalpine Mesic Shrubland

Sagebrush Shrubland

Basin and Wyoming Big (Threetip) Sagebrush Shrubland

Mountain Big Sagebrush Shrubland

Grassland

Lowland - Prairie Grassland

Great Plains Dry Mixedgrass Prairie

Great Plains Mesic Mixedgrass Prairie

Great Plains Sand Prairie

Great Plains Solonetzic Grassland

Semi-Desert Grassland

Wetland and Riparian

Alkaline - Saline Wetlands

Great Plains Saline Marsh and Wet Meadow

Peatland

Great Plains Alkaline Fen

Riparian and Wetland Forest

Great Plains Floodplain Forest

Lowland - Montane Riparian Deciduous Forest

Montane - Subalpine Riparian Forest

Montane Forested Wetland

Riparian Shrubland

Great Plains Floodplain Shrubland and Herbland

Wet Meadow and Marsh

Arid West Freshwater Marsh and Wet Meadow

Great Plains Freshwater Marsh

Great Plains Wet Meadow, Marsh and Shrub Swamp

Great Plains Wet Meadow, Riparian Shrubland and Fen

Recently Disturbed or Modified

Harvested Forest

Recently Logged

Insect-Killed Forest

Recent Insect/Disease Damage

Introduced Vegetation

Introduced - Upland Herbaceous Vegetation

Recently Burned

Recently Burned Forest

Human Land Use

Agriculture

Cultivated Crops, Dryland

Irrigated Agriculture

Pasture/Hay, Dryland

Developed

Developed - Low and Medium Intensity

Stewardship Responsibility

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Marks, J.S., P. Hendricks, and D. Casey. 2016. Birds of Montana. Arrington, VA. Buteo Books. 659 pages.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- American Ornithologists’ Union [AOU]. 1998. Check-list of North American birds, 7th edition. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C. 829 p.
- Anaconda Minerals Company, and Camp, Dresser & McKee. 1981. Anaconda Stillwater Project 6-month environmental baseline report. CDM Project No. 3139. Vol. I Appendix. Jan. 15, 1981.
- Beals, E. 1960. Forest bird communities in the Apostle Islands of Wisconsin. Wilson Bull. 72: 156-181.
- Cameron, E. S. 1908. The birds of Custer and Dawson counties, Montana. Auk 25:39-56.
- Debinski, D. M. 1991. Inventory and monitoring of biodiversity: an assessment of methods and a case study of Glacier National Park, MT. Ph.D. Dissertation. Montana State University, Bozeman. 205 p.
- Dickson, D.C. 1991. Systematic wildlife observations on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Missoula, MT. 14 pp. plus appendices and photographs.
- Ehrlich, P., D. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder’s handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster Inc. New York. 785 pp.
- Falls, J. B., and J. G. Kopachena. 1994. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). In The birds of North America, No. 128 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and American Ornithologists’ Union. [Revised online 18 May 2010]
- Fjell, Alan K., and Brian R. Mahan., 1985, Peabody Coal Company Big Sky Mine, Rosebud County, MT. Wildlife monitoring report: 1984 field season. February 1985.
- Gniadek, S. 1983. Southwest Glendive Wildlife Baseline Inventory. Miles City, Mont: Bureau of Land Management, Miles City District Office. 56 pp with appendices.
- Hays, R., R.L. Eng, and C.V. Davis (preparers). 1984. A list of Montana birds. Helena, MT: MT Dept. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
- Johnsgard, P.A. 1979. Birds of the Great Plains: breeding species and their distribution. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. 539 pp.
- Johnsgard, P.A. 1992. Birds of the Rocky Mountains with particular reference to national parks in the northern Rocky Mountain region. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. xi + 504 pp.
- Joslin, Gayle, and Heidi B. Youmans. 1999. Effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife: a review for Montana. [Montana]: Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
- Lenard, S., J. Carlson, J. Ellis, C. Jones, and C. Tilly. 2003. P. D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution, 6th edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, MT. 144 pp.
- Maxell, B.A. 2016. Northern Goshawk surveys on the Beartooth, Ashland, and Sioux Districts of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest: 2012-2014. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 114pp.
- Montana Bird Distribution Committee. 2012. P.D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution. 7th Edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, Montana. 208 pp. + foldout map.
- Oechsli, L.M. 2000. Ex-urban development in the Rocky Mountain West: consequences for native vegetation, wildlife diversity, and land-use planning in Big Sky, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman. 73 p.
- Powder River Eagle Studies, Inc., Gillette, WY., 1995, Big Sky Mine 1994 wildlife monitoring studies. March 1995
- Ralph, J.C., J.R. Sauer, and S. Droege. 1995. Monitoring bird populations by point counts. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-149. Albany, CA: USDA Pacific Southwest Research Station. 181 p.
- Rising, J.D. 1996. A guide to the identification and natural history of the sparrows of the United States and Canada. Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, CA. 365 pp.
- Rollfinke, B.F., and R.H. Yahner. 1990. Effects of time of day and season on winter bird counts. The Condor 92:215-219.
- Sater, S. 2022. The insects of Sevenmile Creek, a pictorial guide to their diversity and ecology. Undergraduate Thesis. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 242 p.
- Sibley, D. 2014. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. 598 pp.
- Skaar, P. D., D. L. Flath, and L. S. Thompson. 1985. Montana bird distribution. Montana Academy of Sciences Monograph 3(44): ii-69.
- Skaar, P.D. 1969. Birds of the Bozeman latilong: a compilation of data concerning the birds which occur between 45 and 46 N. latitude and 111 and 112 W. longitude, with current lists for Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, impinging Montana counties and Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman, MT. 132 p.
- Stewart, R.E. 1975. Breeding birds of North Dakota. Tri-College Center for Environmental Studies, Fargo, North Dakota. 295 pp.
- Taylor, D.M. and C.H. Trost. 1987. The status of historically rare of unrecorded birds in Idaho. Unpublished manuscript. 68 p.
- Thompson, Richard W., Western Resource Dev. Corp., Boulder, CO., 1996, Wildlife baseline report for the Montana [Montanore] Project, Lincoln and Sanders counties, Montana. In Application for a Hard Rock Operating Permit and Proposed Plan of Operation, Montanore Project, Lincoln and Sanders Counties, Montana. Vol. 5. Stroiazzo, John. Noranda Minerals Corp., Libby, MT. Revised September 1996.
- U.S. Forest Service. 1991. Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Agricultural Handbook 688. 625 pages.
- Watts, C.R. and L.C. Eichhorn. 1981. Changes in the birds of central Montana. Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences 40:31-40.
- Weydemeyer, W. 1927. Some new birds from western Montana. Condor 29:159.
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Citation for data on this website:
White-throated Sparrow — Zonotrichia albicollis. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on December 15, 2025, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=ABPBXA4020