White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Live from the dock
Active 1,301 minutes across 24 days since October 2026. Last heard today.
Heard todayHear the call
When you'll hear it
Most often heard in the morning, 8 to 11 a.m. Quiet overnight.
Minutes active by hour, as a table
| 12 AM | 1 AM | 2 AM | 3 AM | 4 AM | 5 AM | 6 AM | 7 AM | 8 AM | 9 AM | 10 AM | 11 AM | NOON | 1 PM | 2 PM | 3 PM | 4 PM | 5 PM | 6 PM | 7 PM | 8 PM | 9 PM | 10 PM | 11 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes active | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 212 | 226 | 204 | 158 | 132 | 85 | 65 | 36 | 30 | 27 | 64 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Across the year
Present from mid-October through November. First heard this year on October 18.
Dock records
- First heard
- October 18, 2026
- Busiest day
- 83 minutes on October 21, 2026
- Earliest call
- 2:20 a.m.
- Days detected
- 24 of 183 days monitored
What our dock mics have heard
Some days yes, most days no. The White-throated Sparrow is on 24 of 183 days in the recordings (13%), with 1,301 minutes active, #21 of 107.
October has been its big month so far, 801 minutes active. May, June, July, August and September came up empty. Its biggest day was October 21, 2026, 83 minutes active. Keep in mind the mics only went live on May 2, 2026, so we don't have December through April yet.
| Month | Days heard | Minutes active |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 0 of 20 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 0 of 30 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 0 of 31 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 of 31 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 of 30 | 0 |
| October 2026 | 14 of 31 | 801 |
| November 2026 | 10 of 10 | 500 |
We don't see much of an early or late pattern. The top hour so far is 8 a.m. at 17% of its minutes.
It's been around more lately, 24 of the last 30 days, up from 0% of days before that.
Heard alongside
Out of the 210 hours we've had the White-throated Sparrow on the mics, these birds turned up in the same hours the most. We pick them by how much their hours overlap.
- Golden-crowned Kinglet: calling in 156 of those 210 hours.
- Yellow-rumped Warbler: calling in 126 of those 210 hours.
- Winter Wren: calling in 104 of those 210 hours.
- Eastern Towhee: calling in 81 of those 210 hours.
- Song Sparrow: calling in 72 of those 210 hours.
Common questions
What time of day do you hear a White-throated Sparrow at Watts Bar Lake?
Most often heard in the morning, 8 to 11 a.m. Quiet overnight. These are the hours the dock microphones detect the White-throated Sparrow most often.
What time of year is the White-throated Sparrow at Watts Bar Lake?
Present from mid-October through November. First heard this year on October 18. That window is when the White-throated Sparrow has been audible from the Watts Bar Lake dock.
Has the White-throated Sparrow been heard at Watts Bar Lake?
Yes. Active 1,301 minutes across 24 days since October 2026. Last heard today.
About the bird
The white-throated sparrow is a passerine bird of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. It breeds in northern North America and winters in the southern United States.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 Read more on Wikipedia →
