Family:
The dark-eyed junco is a medium-sized sparrow with a round head, long tail, and small, stout bill. The adult male has dark slate-grey upperparts and tail with white outer feathers. On the underparts, the breast is grey and the belly is and a pale grey or whitish. The head is grey, the eyes are black, and the bill is pale pink. Females are similar but tend to have less conspicuous markings.
There are several subspecies with distinct colour variations, such as the Oregon dark-eyed junco, which has a light brown back and buff underparts with a dark brown head, the pink-sided dark-eyed junco, which has a brown back, pinkish-brown underparts, and a grey head, and the red-backed dark-eyed junco, which has a reddish-brown back, grey underparts and head, and a dark face.
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Dark-eyed Juncos primarily feed on insects and seeds, foraging by running and hopping along the ground. During autumn and winter, they also supplement their diet with berries and often visit gardens to take fallen seeds from bird feeders.
Dark-eyed Juncos are among the most abundant forest birds in North America, found across Canada, the western United States, and in the Appalachian region’s coniferous forests. In winter, they can also be spotted in woodlands, fields, parks, and gardens.
In the United States, they are often referred to as ‘snowbirds’ because, for most Americans, these birds are winter visitors, appearing in all but the most northern states during the colder months before migrating away each spring.
