Another one of California's great winter birds is the Golden-crowned Sparrow, a much-beloved feature of our backyard feeders and shrubby habitats. While the bird is ever-popular, it's exact migration was always something of a mystery until last year, when our friends at PRBO-Conservation Science released a groundbreaking study built upon radio-tracking. The study tracked four Golden-crowned Sparrows tagged in central coastal California and determined that they spent the breeding season along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Clearly, while it's a little bird, it can get around. Check out the maps below the fold to see what we're looking at in the coming weeks from this cool bird:

Here's the eBird map as of today, showing lots of Golden-crowned Sparrows in California:

Here's the map from the end of May last year, clearly showing some departures:

And now here's the end of June last year. The birds are nearly all gone to Alaska and Canada: