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.
8 comments:
Hi Jeff Great to see the same bird looking difference in the shots.
Nice birds - I can remember having to ask "what are they?" to another birder when I saw these in a car park many, many years ago.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I love dark eyed juncos, they are one of the first birds that I could identify. Lovely post.
Never noticed such variation, but they're one of the common 4 or 5 birds we have all winter. Then they seem to totally disappear through the breeding season and return to us in the fall.
Great shots of the juncos and an interesting post. Carver, ABC Wed. Team
Cute bird!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Difficult to tell them apart! But you can do that and that's amazing!
Wil,ABCW Team.
i love these and soon they shall arrive in my garden and stay the Winter. You just got me happy, happy~
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