Dark-eyed Junco

Overview

Dark-eyed Junco: Medium-sized sparrow with considerable geographic color variation, although all exhibit a pink bill, dark eyes, white belly, and dark-centered tail with white outer feathers. Gray-headed form has gray head, rump, breast, and sides, and rust-brown back. Slate-colored form is slate-gray overall with darker head. Oregon form has black hood, chestnut-brown back and buff-brown flanks. White-winged form is blue-gray overall and shows two white wing bars. Pink-sided form is blue-gray with darker wings and pink-gray flanks. Female of each form resembles male but is usually paler. Juveniles of all forms are heavily streaked brown with darker heads, white bellies, and white outer tail feathers. Short flight with white outer tail feathers flashing, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Range and Habitat

Dark-eyed Junco: Breeds from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland, and south to the mountains in Mexico and Georgia. Winters south to the Gulf coast and northern Mexico. Preferred habitats include openings and edges of coniferous and mixed woods. In the winter, frequents fields, roadsides, parks, and suburban gardens.

INTERESTING FACTS

A flash of white tail feathers serves as an alarm to other members of the flock.
The Dark-eyed Junco was the most common feeder bird in North America during the 1996-1997 Project FeederWatch season.
They mainly eat insects and seeds. However, they will sometimes eat their own droppings.
A group of sparrows has many collective nouns, including a "crew", "flutter", "meinie", "quarrel", and "ubiquity" of sparrows.

The Dark-eyed Junco has a large range, spanning across Mexico, the United States and many island nations to which the bird is native, as well as many parts of Europe. This bird prefers forest and shrubland ecosystems, though it has been known to reside in rural gardens. The global population of this bird has not been determined or quantified, but it does not appear to meet population size or decline criteria that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. The current evaluation status of the Dark-eyed Junco is Least Concern.