Dark-eyed Junco

Junko ( Junco hyemalis )

The Junko ( Junco hyemalis ) is a common American passerine bird in the bunting family.

Features

The plumage color of each subspecies of the 15 cm long Junko is quite different. Mostly he is colored pale gray or brown on the back and belly. The beak is usually pink. In flight, the white outer tail feathers are clearly visible.

Occurrence

The Junko lives in mixed and coniferous forests, thickets, parks and gardens in many parts of North America to northern Mexico. The northern populations move into the cold season in the south, some from higher elevations in deeper. In winter, the bird often appears in or near cities to bird feeders. In Western Europe it is rare Irrgast.

Way of life

The Junko looking on the ground for insects and seeds.

The bird breeds in coniferous and mixed forests. Both partners build on the ground or on low branches a cup-shaped nest of twigs, grasses, roots and other plant material with about 10 cm in diameter. The bird usually nests twice a year. The average of four low-gloss eggs are colored gray or bluish - white and have brown, violet or gray spots. The clutch is incubated by the female alone, 12 to 13 days. Both parent birds take care of the young, who will fledge after 11 to 14 days.

Subspecies

• Junco hyemalis hyemalis is colored slate gray on the head, chest and top. The female is gray - brown. It comes in the coniferous forests of Alaska prior to Newfoundland and south to the Appalachian Mountains and winters farther south. This subspecies is relatively common.
• Junco hyemalis aikeni is colored gray on the head, chest and top and has white wing bars. The female is gray-brown. He lives in the Black Hills in South Dakota and Wyoming, and is relatively rare.
• The Oregon Junko ( Junco hyemalis oreganus ) is colored black-gray on the head and chest and has a brown back, brown wings and reddish flanks. The distribution area extends from Alaska to the northern Baja California. This subspecies is the most common in western North America.
• Junco hyemalis mearnsi is at the head and chest gray with brown back and wings and pink - brown flanks. It can be found in the northern Rocky Mountains of Alberta to Idaho and Wyoming.
• The Graukopfjunko ( Junco hyemalis caniceps ) is mostly gray with a rust-colored back and live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the central Arizona.
• Junco hyemalis dorsalis has a dark lower beak and rust-colored wings. It can be found in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico.
• The Guadalupe - Junko ( Junco hyemalis insularis ) is the rarest subspecies. It is endemic to the island of Guadalupe.