The White-crowned Sparrows have pretty distinctive whistles where the first syllabus is long, followed by staccato notes cramped together – “W-h-e-e-e-e-e phew hue-hue-hue-hue-hue”.

Imagine saying “W–h–e–r–e are you-you-you-you-you?”

I first knew about them when I started frequenting the Richmond Library. They are always singing. Ever since the start of our rooftop party, I like to mimic their song with our house address, “T-w-o-s-e-v-e-n-t-y blahblahblah rooftop!”

After several months of calling out to them, they are here! Yay! Like the Dark-eyed Juncos and House Finches, they came as a family – two adults and four juveniles.

The adults have black and white crowns, spotting the chicest shaven hair design with subtle yellow details around their wings.

The juveniles have brown and tan crowns with two streaks on their throats. Sometimes when I get to see their front profile, they look like they have an “X” across their little faces – a feature that I seldom notice.

They turn out to be more dominating than the House Finch. It is fun to watch the resident bully get bullied.