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Dark-eyed Junco

Status Common in summer, fairly common to uncommon in winter. Breeds. First arriving juncos can be detected on islands and other locations generally in late March (average 25 March, earliest 12 March) and they appear in large numbers during April. In summer they are widespread in mixed and coniferous woods, requiring open areas as well. In fall, large movements can be observed: for example, 1200 were seen on Seal Island on 23 October 1980 and 5000 were seen on Brier Island on 10 October 1983. Christmas Bird Count estimates of 500-1000 individuals each have come in recent years from Broad Cove, Lunenburg County; Halifax East; and Wolfville. It remains fairly common in the southwestern counties in winter, but numbers vary elsewhere from year to year. During the coldest season, it is often found around human habitations—on 18 January 1940 a flock of over 200 was seen feeding in Cyril Coldwell's orchard in Kings County and on 11 February 1977 Don MacDougall estimated that 475 were feeding along plowed roadsides near Middle Musquodoboit, Halifax County.

Description Length: 15-16.5 cm. Adult male: Upperparts, throat and breast dark slate gray; lower breast and belly white; sides suffused with gray; outer tail feathers conspicuously white; bill grayish pink. Adult female: Similar to male but paler. (See Remarks for a description of the western subspecies group known as "Oregon Juncos.")

Breeding Nest: Composed of coarse grass lined with finer grass often mixed with hair. It is usually placed on the ground but occasionally in the crevice of a stump or some other opening 1-2 m above ground, and is always well concealed. lt may be located in a garden terrace, along the road in a sparsely settled district, or in an area remote from settlement. Eggs: 4-5, usually 4; white or bluish white, with fine specks of light brown or cinnamon, chiefly around the larger end, in the form of a wreath. Of 23 nests examined, 20 contained sets of four eggs, only 3 had sets of five. Laying begins about mid-May; the earliest complete set was found on 18 May 1927.

Range Breeds from northern Alaska and northern Quebec, south to central Alberta, northern Minnesota and the mountains of Georgia, and south in the mountains to the southwestern United States. Winters from the southern parts of its breeding range south to the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Remarks This is one of our most common and best known birds. To some it is known as the "black snow-bird"; because of its slaty plumage, others miscall it a "bluebird."

Its song is a weak trill like that of the Chipping Sparrow, but slower and more musical. In summer, juncos feed mainly on insects but in winter their staple fare is weed seeds.

The junco is most readily identified in life by its white outer tail feathers, conspicuous in flight. Though other species of similar size (the Vesper Sparrow, Water Pipit, and Lapland Longspur, for example) also have white outer tail feathers, their general appearance is quite unlike that of a junco and none should be confused with it.

The subspecies nesting in Nova Scotia is Junco hyemalis hyemalis, once known as the "Slate-colored Junco." From time to time vagrant individuals of the group of subspecies once recognized as a separate species, the "Oregon Junco," have been reported here and elsewhere in eastern North America. The first two such birds appeared in 1959, one at the Basil C. Silvers' feeder in Bedford, Halifax County, 9-12 January, and another at Mrs. Frank White's feeder in Dartmouth on 9 and 10 January. Since then, 16 individuals have been reported from Halifax, Hants, Lunenburg, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties, all during fall (earliest 29 September) or winter. One collected by Lloyd B. Macpherson on 27 January 1968 at Maitland, Hants County, proved to be of the subspecies Junco hyemalis montanus. Other reported birds appear to have been of this dark-hooded, brown-backed, brown-sided race, which is widespread in western Canada. A bird on Sable Island on 16 and 17 October 1975 (I.A. McLaren) had a pale gray head (except around the eyes), dull-brown back and bright pinkish brown sides characteristic of the subspecies Junco hyemalis mearnsi, the "Pink-sided Junco," which breeds from southwestern Saskatchewan and southward in the western United States.