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D & D Wildlife Photography
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The Dark-eyed Junco males are slightly larger and more brightly plumaged than females. While plumage characteristics vary, all Dark-eyed Juncos exhibit a basic plumage form. They are predominately gray above with white or pinkish wash to the undersides, with white outer tail feathers. There are 15 described races of Dark-eyed Junco, and 5 recognized subspecies which include: "Slate-colored" Dark-eyed Junco - the abundant eastern form; "White-winged" Dark-eyed Junco (rare) - breeds from southeastern Montana east through the Black Hills region of South Dakota, winters at lower elevations in its breeding range south through central Colorado; "Oregon" Dark-eyed Junco, the abundant western form; and "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco, found in the northern Rocky Mountains. The Gray-headed" Dark-eyed Junco is fairly common in the southern Rocky Mountains.Preferred food: wide variety of seeds, few spiders. Nestlings fed 100% insects, initially partly regurgitated.
Nests are usually in a shallow depression with overhead protection, often against vertical surface; rarely in shrub, tree, or building; of coarse grass, moss, rootlets, forbs, bark, twigs, lined with fine materials.
They lay three to six grey or pale bluish with dark blotches.
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Length:6 inches
Habitat: Conifer and deciduous forest and edge, open woodland, bogs.
Voice: Short trill or series of trills on one or more pitches; calls include "tsip," "zeet," and "kew kew."
Other Behavior: Flocks return to same areas each winter. They are fixed in membership and have a hierarchy. Aggression at feeders is expression of dominance.
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