0000003416 00000 n 0000007992 00000 n In Virginia and Carolina they appear only in Winter: and in Snow they appear most. (1990). They are also know as Snowbirds, picking the small seeds from the snow. It’s similar to the songs of both the Chipping Sparrow and the Pine Warbler, and is loud enough to be heard from several hundred feet away. Holberton RL, Able KP & Wingfield JC. This is the most common subspecies group in the west, breeding in the Pacific Coast mountains from southeastern Alaska to extreme northern Baja California and wintering to the Great Plains and northern Sonora. They are relatively common across their range. Grindstaff JL, Buerkle CA, Casto JM, Nolan V & Ketterson ED. If you listen closely, you can hear the rapidly delivered notes vary in frequency, a richness often lost on human ears but undoubtedly important to the junco. The call also resembles that of the black-throated blue warbler's, which is a … 0000004306 00000 n A - Z. App. [italics in original][8]. Brendan Lally. These birds forage on the ground. It is a very variable species, much like the related fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca), and its systematics are still not completely untangled. Deviche P, Greiner EC & Manteca X. [11], This subspecies is essentially rather light gray on top with a rusty back. The white outer tail feathers flash distinctively in flight and while hopping on the ground. 133 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 135 /H [ 888 224 ] /L 806106 /E 58859 /N 19 /T 803327 >> endobj xref 133 24 0000000016 00000 n Often included with J. h. caniceps as part of the "gray-headed group", this subspecies differs from the gray-headed junco proper in having a more silvery bill[11] with a dark-colored upper and light-colored lower mandible,[2][6] a variable amount of rust on the wings, and pale underparts. (1989). Վ�S��o������� *!�`p�_�*c�3��]��H\��%��������"�4�+\Ć�*��S���N-�'��=�\�ʷ��MN��m���!�b�k4�H�r뫃��3�����=���Uun;#��:n�v]h�2� �������;�Vr����? The nests have an outer diameter of about 10 cm (3.9 in) and are lined with fine grasses and hair. The song is a trill similar to the chipping sparrow's (Spizella passerina), except that the red-backed dark-eyed junco's (see below) song is more complex, similar to that of the yellow-eyed junco (Junco phaeonotus). [2][6], These subspecies have a blackish-gray head and breast with a brown back and wings and reddish flanks, tending toward duller and paler plumage in the inland and southern parts of its range. 0000005244 00000 n Submitted by Colleen on March 11, 2016 - 8:08am, I don't look forward to winter but it is nice when these cheery fellows show up, it is March now so they should be leaving soon. Sound: Song is a two-second trill, given from a high perch. It is found in the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. It breeds in the northern Rocky Mountains from southern Alberta to eastern Idaho and western Wyoming and winters in central Idaho and nearby Montana and from southwestern South Dakota, southern Wyoming, and northern Utah to northern Sonora and Chihuahua. 0000007040 00000 n [10], The several subspecies make up two large or polytypic groups and three to four small or monotypic ones. A sample of the song can be heard at the USGS web site here (MP3) or at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site here. [12][13] Other authorities consider it a separate species in its own right – perhaps a rather young one, but certainly this population has evolved more rapidly than the mainland subspecies due to its small population size and the founder effect. If you listen closely, you can hear the rapidly delivered notes vary in frequency, a richness often lost on human ears but undoubtedly important to the junco. As we near the end of this process it is Here you can identify the sounds and bird song of the Dark-eyed Junco.