Overlooked?
The dark-eyed junco is a frequently overlooked bird. They are low-level nesters, but I have never come across one of their nests, probably because they mostly breed in Canada! We get many of them in the colder weather and they eat where the seeds have spilled from the feeders. The juncos in my photos below are VERY different from the more warm-colored varieties in Western North America. They are sometimes called 'snowbirds'.
The photo above shows ALL the snow we got this winter thus far! I took this shot as the junco hopped across my deck.
There are over a dozen species with varied muted colors.
I love the muted and more formal colors that our visitors have as if they are a butler or well-dressed bus-boy. I will miss them when they leave in the coming weeks.
Great close-ups! I don't think I ever saw one. NowPoor birds must be confused this year!
ReplyDeleteThese guys are a sign winter is on the way here. They arrive in gangs, like tourists getting off the bus, and get to work right away checking the area around the feeders. I've never seen them feed at the feeders, maybe they don't like clinging while they eat. But considering how much food the other birds knock down, they do ok.
ReplyDeleteGreat description of juncos. I will always see them that way now, Tabor.
ReplyDeleteThey may not be splashy, but i like their quiet beauty.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen even one this winter! Usually we do, but they breed further north.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! It is nice seeing what they look like up close.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to take pictures of the juncos on my deck. The zoom gets stuck on the rain drops on the window.
Can you try manual focus?
DeleteThey are cute things. I know little about our feathered friends, but I am familiar with how there birds gravitate to ground feeding.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we get juncos down her. it is a sweet looking little bird.
ReplyDeleteLove the Juncos, made of Tabor.
ReplyDeleteOur Dark eyed juncos are brown backed. They used to be snow birds, winter only, but now they are year round here. I have found their nests made of grass on the ground and in planters.
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