Not a Slate-colored Junco! The Cassiar Junco

Adult male Dark-eyed (Cassiar) Junco, Beaverton, Oregon, 7 April 2011 by Greg Gillson.

The bird above showed up at my feeder this week. Many birders might call this form of Dark-eyed Junco a Slate-colored Junco and not give it another thought. Technically, though, this is not correct.

Male Slate-colored Juncos are evenly dark gray above, with no contrast between head and back. This bird has an obviously darker gray head contrasting sharply with a paler gray back that is washed with a touch of brown.

The junco above is a Cassiar Junco. This was described as a subspecies of Slate-colored Junco when Slate-colored Juncos were considered separate species from Oregon Juncos. But in the Great Lumping of 1983 1973*, most of the juncos formerly considered separate species were lumped into "Dark-eyed Junco." Thus birders "lost" Oregon Juncos, Slate-colored Juncos, White-winged Juncos, and Gray-headed Juncos from their lists.

So if you saw a bird like this before 1973 it would have been considered a subspecies of Slate-colored Junco, and you could accurately call it such. However, since then, Oregon Juncos, Slate-colored Juncos and this Cassiar Junco are all subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco. So, technically, it is not a Slate-colored Junco. It is a Dark-eyed Junco or Cassiar Junco, but it is not a Slate-colored Junco.

I know, only 8 people in all of North America care. What? Not that many?

Looking at this level of detail will help you become a better birder--and you can do it in your own backyard.

Immature (probably female) Cassiar Junco, Beaverton, Oregon, 28 March 2011 by Greg Gillson.

The male Cassiar Junco joined a first winter female that had been hanging around for a couple of weeks. Female and first-year Cassiar Juncos are much more difficult to separate from Slate-colored Juncos, so I was glad to spot the adult male.

The scientific name of Cassiar Junco is Junco hyemalis henshawi (=cismontanus of AOU 1957).

Cassiar Juncos breed in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. In winter they regularly are found from southern British Columbia east to Michigan and from there southward from Arizona to Texas. Scattered individuals wander widely in winter outside this main area.

Both Slate-colored and Cassiar Juncos can be found in small numbers throughout the Pacific Northwest in winter. They aren't too unusual at backyard feeders--most feeders will host a couple during the winter. But next time you see a "Slate-colored Junco" I bet you'll be taking a second, closer, look!

- - - - - - -

* The Great Lumping of 1983 1973: Besides the juncos, other species lumped in 1973 were Myrtle and Audubon's Warblers into Yellow-rumped Warbler; Red-shafted, Yellow-shafted, and Gilded Flicker into Common Flicker, but Gilded Flicker subsequently given back its status as a species and the other two called Northern Flicker; Baltimore and Bullock's Oriole lumped into Northern Oriole, but this decision was later reversed. Finally, Gray-crowned, Black, and Brown-capped Rosy Finches were all lumped into Rosy-Finch, but then this was reversed later, too, but with "Rosy Finch" altered to "Rosy-Finch." ...And I hear rumors of Yellow-rumped Warblers being re-split in the near future. -- We may get most of the pre-1973 species back, but the damage to birders' psyches from that period will never be repaired.

Friday Foto: Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco, Dawson Creek Corporate Park, Hillsboro, Oregon, 31 December 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

I thought I would start a new feature for a while, sharing my recent photos, without much commentary.

This female Dark-eyed Junco of the "Oregon" form is common throughout the Pacific NW.

We discussed Dark-eyed Juncos previously. In fact, it was the very first post!

In the backyard... Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eye Junco, Stub Stewart State Park, Manning, Oregon on 23 November 2007 by Greg Gillson.

 

The Dark-eyed Junco may be found in winter in nearly every town in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, according to Project FeederWatch they are the most common bird at feeders in the Pacific Northwest, present at over 96% of feeders reporting and with an average of over 8 birds per feeder. They are one of the top 10 most numerous feeder birds throughout the United States. No wonder they are well-known colloquially as "snowbirds" throughout much of North America (though other species, too, may also be called snowbirds).

As noted, juncos are common birds at seed feeders, though they may prefer to feed on the ground under the feeders, rather than from the tube feeders themselves. A tray feeder, lower to the ground, amply supplied with black oil sunflower seeds will readily attract this small, active bird.

Yards with small, dense conifers and a variety of evergreen broadleafs, such as rhododendrons, camellias, and azaleas may prove attractive places of protective cover for juncos. Some juncos may remain for the summer and breed in yards or parks with such habitat in forested areas, though many populations migrate or move upslope to breed in damp conifer forests with brushy undergrowth. The nest is placed on or near the ground, usually concealed by a bunch of grass, ferns, or bushes.

Flocks of juncos smack and twitter as they feed and fly about on or near the ground. The breeding song is a simple bell-like trill on a single pitch of about 2-3 seconds that they start singing in March from a high perch.

The white outer tail feathers contrast with the dark gray tail as they flit about on the ground. The wings are dark gray and the belly white, but there is much variation among individuals and among populations. Populations also tend to breed together where their ranges meet. Thus, in the 1970's, five former species of juncos were lumped together by biologists into one species with many races, the Dark-eyed Junco.

The photo above shows the form known as the "Oregon" Junco. That is the most common form in the Pacific Northwest. The sides are pink, the back is brown contrasting with the dark hooded head. Males have jet black heads, females--such as the bird above--have paler gray heads (many much more pale than this bird). You can note some brown colored feathers on the back of the head and crown, another indication that this bird is a female.

Other forms sometimes reported from the Pacific Northwest include the "Slate-colored" Junco, "Pink-sided" Junco, "Gray-headed" Junco, and "White-winged" Junco. Consult a field guide for the identification of these various forms, remembering that "cross-breeds" are frequent and many individuals can be confusing.

Dark-eyed Juncos are a joy to watch because of their bold and active manner and attraction to feeders. As they are often the first birds to visit your feeder, they serve to attract the more shy birds into view.