Junco

 

 There are only two types of Juncos found in North America. There is the yellow-eyed junco, which is found in Mexico and southern Arizona, and the dark-eyed juncos, which are found almost every place else across the continent. Dark-eyed juncos have several different color variations which is fun but can be confusing to people who are new to birding.

 Even through they look different all 4 birds in this post are dark-eyed juncos. The most common coloration is the slate-colored, which is pictured on top. These juncos breed in Canada, the north eastern United States and the Appalachian Mountain region. They winter through out most of the US. This is the only junco that is regularly found in the eastern half of the continent. These are the type that we see here in southern Minnesota during the winter. Many of them breed in the northeast portion of the state.

 The second photo is an example of a pink-sided. The pink-sided breed in the Wyoming, Idaho, Montana area and winter from Colorado south down into northern Mexico. The bird in the photo above looks similar to the pink-sided but it has a darker head and pinkinsh brown flanks. This is an Oregon dark-eyed junco. They breed in western Canada and the west coast. Birds that breed in Canada migrate to the western half of the US for the winter.

 This last dark-eyed junco is an example of a Gray-headed variety. They breed in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico and winter in southern Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. They look very similar to the red-backed variation which is found in a smaller range in Arizona and New Mexico. There is one last variety, the white-winged dark-eyed junco which I still have left to photograph. They are found around eastern Wyoming, western South Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico.

A Day looking Out the Window with my Cats.

 I had the day off today so I decided to take a little bit of time and spend it with my cats. With school, work, photography, volunteer stuff and the blog it seems as though I don't spend a lot of time around the house. We have two cats that are completely indoor cats. Peanut who is our younger female cat is very sweet but has a kind of demonic side. Magic the larger male is very easy going but has a hard time sitting still. Today I was petting peanut as she looked out the window with extreme interest at the dark-eyed juncos hopping around the front yard. I felt sorry for the junco because last weekend most of the snow was gone and they were having a great time rusting through the leaves and other debris in the woods out front looking for seeds. Unfortunately for us all we got a couple of inches of snow over the past couple of days which has made it more difficult for them to find food. I am sure that it will melt soon, it is mid April after all, and the juncos will eat until they head north. Birds are one reason why our cats do not go outside, unless we are watching them. Cats are the largest cause of songbird mortality  Domestic cats are not a natural predator in North America, and, as such, the native species of birds are not adapted to deal with them. Besides every time I see a cat on the side of the road that has been hit by a car I think how I would feel if it was one of my cats that was dead.

Hints of Autumn

 As I have been out over the past few weeks I have begun to see many of the signs that autumn has arrived and that winter will soon be here. Some of the signs are very obvious. The leaves on the trees have all turned red, orange, yellow or brown and have begun to fall.

 Some signs are more subtle like spotting woolly bear caterpillars scuttling across a path. The banded woolly bear is found mainly in northern regions. It hatches from the egg in the fall and over winters as a caterpillar. During the winter they will literally freeze solid. Their heart stops and only able to survive by producing a cryoprotectant or organic antifreeze. When the temps warm up in the spring the caterpillars thaw then begin to feed. Eventually they pupate and emerge as an Isabella tiger moth. These caterpillars are found as far north as the Arctic.In these far north regions where the winters are very long the woolly bear may hibernate over multiple winter.

Another harbinger of the coming winter in the dark-eyed junco. During the summer it is rare to see a dark-eyed junco in the southern half of Minnesota but during the winter it is probably the most common bird species that we see. Most of these migrate down from Canada during the winter looking for places where there is a more seeds to eat. Since it estimated that there may be over 600 million juncos, most of which migrate south, it is possible that if you live almost anywhere in the U.S. or Mexico you probably see this same omen of winter as I do here in Minnesota. It is possible that you may not recognize them though because the dark-eyed junco has a variety of different colorations. 

Junco

Today is the first day of spring. In spring many of our resident birds begin to return to the area but spring also heralds the departure of some of our winter visitors, like the dark-eyed junco. The dark-eyed junco is an Emberizine, or new world, sparrow found in North America. They are most often seen on the ground where they forage mainly for seeds. Seeds make up the majority of what they eat with a little bit of protein, in the form of insects, added to the diet during breeding season.
Dark-eyed juncos breed through out Canada and Alaska. During the winter they migrate south through out the entire United States and down into Mexico. There are also populations of juncos that breed in the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. These populations are generally found at higher elevations and do not migrate from their summer breeding ground.
There are several subspecies of dark-eyed junco. Most of these subspecies live in different parts of North America and can be distinguished from each other by their color. The slate-colored dark-eyed junco, first picture, is the most common junco that we see here in Minnesota. They primarily breed up in Canada and Alaska and winter through out the United States. The second photo is an example of the Oregon subspecies. The Oregon subspecies is found mostly in the western half of the United States and Canada.

Most of the other subspecies have a much smaller range. The pink-sided dark-eyed junco, the third photo, are usually found from Montana down through New Mexico. The gray-headed subspecies, the fourth photo, are found from Colorado down into northern Mexico. There are two other subspecies which I do not have photographs for yet. They are the white-winged subspecies, which is found in Wyoming and Colorado, and the Red-backed subspecies which is found in New Mexico near the border with Mexico.

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark Eyed Junco

Well I have things back up and running again. What a hassle. The set up software that came with the new router was not working properly and it was not until I found the default IP address in the documentation that I was able to connect up to the router and set it up. Fortunately I am Cisco certified and had the config from my old router so setting things up manually was pretty simple.
While we were in Yellowstone we spotted a bird that we are pretty familiar with back home except it looked a little bit different. The dark-eyed junco six different populations across North America that all look similar but have slight differences.

The first bird pictured is the one that we photographed in Yellowstone. I believe that this is the Oregon variety of the dark-eyed junco. The Oregon variety can be found in the western parts of the US and Canada. Birds that nest up in Canada usually winter in the western US including Wyoming and Montana, where Yellowstone is located. The second bird pictured was photographed at White Water State Park, located in southern Minnesota, in February. This is the slate-colored dark-eyed junco that can be found through out most of the US during the winter. This is the type of junco that we see around southern Minnesota in the winter.