Welcome back, white-crowned sparrows!

How exciting to see the white-crowned sparrows back for the winter.

They nest on the tundra in arctic and subarctic Alaska and Canada during the summer, then migrate.

Some of them migrate to California for the winter.

From a distance it can be difficult to see the markings on sparrows, to determine if they are white-crowned or golden-crowned.

But once you zoom in with the camera lens, there's no mistaking these sparrows for any others.

From the bold black and white stripes on the head, and yellow bill, you can tell that this is an adult.

The sparrows enjoy eating the dried grass seeds in our garden.

Before I even see any of them I always know they are back by their sweet, whistling song.