Oct. 11, 2020 - Juncos
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Every fall, we have flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos stopping in our yard as they migrate from their nesting areas across Canada to their winter homes on the plains of the lower United States.
In the 1970s, five separate species of Juncos were combined into one species, now called Dark-eyed Junco. There is wide variation in the appearance of the five species, so they are still referred to as groups within the Dark-eyed Junco species. To make things even more difficult, each group has several sub-species within it. In Minnesota, almost all the Juncos we see are in the Slate-colored group. This one has a very dark upper body contrasting with its white belly, identifying it as an adult male.
Compare this very light-colored Junco with the bird in the first photo in this series. That shows you the range of color variation among Juncos. I wouldn’t even attempt to identify which group it fits into. It could be a juvenile Slate-colored or even a member of the Pink-sided group.
Bird books show many of the color variations of Dark-eyed Juncos. But they all show a white belly. This bird stood out to me because it obviously does not have a white belly. Does that make it a hybrid with some other species? That’s just another example of why Junco identification is such a challenge.
earlorfphotos
on October 12, 2020That's interesting. We do not have Juncos at our lake home in the winter and yet, you are only 200 miles south of us and you have them all winter.
Linda Russell
on October 11, 2020Well, I guess we're lucky that those white tail feathers are so prominent! We've been seeing some juncos here in the metro as well. But they stay, so we can enjoy them all winter!