The "University of Michigan" Bird

For some reason in our household, whenever one of these little birds pops down on to our deck, someone calls out: "Hey! It's a University of Michigan bird!" I think the appellation stems back to when we were first trying to figure out what kind of bird this was, when the bird would appear on our deck and then disappear before I could grab my camera. The yellow stripe on its 'helmet' was the most prominent and distinguishable feature that was easiest to remember. While it lacks the blue, it does have the maize, and so... somehow, the nickname stuck. (What kind of bird is it really? A White-throated Sparrow.)