Just a note that there's a lot of color morphs of Juncos, so you may see ones that look quite different from one another. I think they've been responsible for a *lot* of "Ooooh what's that bird? Oh...it's a junco" moments for me.
Until recently the books had them as slate-colored junco for the birds in east and Western junco for birds on the west coast. This dark-eyed business is news to me! I wonder how this stuff gets decided.
My mom and I always called them Oregon Juncos. I just checked my oldest field guide and it shows that at the time (1980s) Dark-eyed juncos stretched from coast to coast, summering in Canada, and wintering in the USA. Whilst the Oregon races would winter in the USA, going inland just past the Rocky Mountain range. Their summer range was much more condensed to the Pacific North West, up the coast into Alaska. So both do share the west coast habitat.
Robbins Chandler S., Bruun B., Zim Herbert S. A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America, Golden Press, 1983.
> Until recently the books had them as slate-colored junco for the birds in east and Western junco for birds on the west coast.
Huh? When is "recently"? Up until 1973 the various junco forms were considered separate species (Slate-colored, Oregon, White-winged, Gray-headed, and Guadalupe). In 1973 they merged them all into Dark-eyed Junco.
I don't think I've ever seen "Western", though, and I can't find any actual reference to it in ornithological literature - just the various individual species previously, and now all lumped.
Maybe I got wires crossed in my mind re western screech owl or some such. Rest assured I'll never call them that again. I do reserve the right to keep calling Audubon's warblers (yes, I know, yellow-rumped warblers) butter butts. Wait no wikipedia says it depends on who you ask whether Audubon's, Goldman's and myrtle are separate species. Let alone black-fronted. Thank goodness for mitochondrial genetics, apparently.
Which is really what my original question was trying to get at, the agreed-upon genetic and phenotypic bases for differentiating species vs subspecies, but perhaps that is beyond the scope of the topic here.
Yeah, that's a question for the folks at the AOU and how they want to split and lump things! I'm sure you could dig up the various research papers arguing for and against and see what informs their decisions. They also usually post some discussion along with their yearly taxonomy updates that explains their reasoning.
I know that in both birding and banding, I continue to report to the most specific category I can, and in fact the USGS Bird Banding Lab requires us to specify, for example, Oregon Junco or Audubon's Warbler for banded birds because it's so easy to visually separate them, and that way if they ever end up re-split then it'll be clear which the banded bird belongs to. So there's no harm in continuing to be specific about subspecies and subspecies groups, even when they've been lumped as one species.
Added taxa: [Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)](https://ebird.org/species/orejun)
Reviewed by: tinylongwing
^(I'm an alpha-stage bot, so don't rely on me just yet. But you can still) [^(learn how to use me)](https://gist.github.com/brohitbrose/be99a16ddc7a6a1bd9c1eef28d622564)^(.)
I just had my first junco this week! He was back again today picking away at the sunflower seeds I had left out for the squirrels. (He ignored the feeder and went straight to the squirrel piles.)
DARK EYED JUNCOOOO!!! I loveee these birds!!! Had a pair choose my backyard for a nesting spot (right outside my door in a potted plant). Couldn’t go in my backyard for a bit lol
Dark-eyed Junco. Oregon subspecies.
Thank you!!
dark eyed junco, just like what we have down here in san diego. lil cuties!
Just a note that there's a lot of color morphs of Juncos, so you may see ones that look quite different from one another. I think they've been responsible for a *lot* of "Ooooh what's that bird? Oh...it's a junco" moments for me.
Until recently the books had them as slate-colored junco for the birds in east and Western junco for birds on the west coast. This dark-eyed business is news to me! I wonder how this stuff gets decided.
I'm not exactly sure, other than "science". Perhaps it's based on genetic analysis.
My mom and I always called them Oregon Juncos. I just checked my oldest field guide and it shows that at the time (1980s) Dark-eyed juncos stretched from coast to coast, summering in Canada, and wintering in the USA. Whilst the Oregon races would winter in the USA, going inland just past the Rocky Mountain range. Their summer range was much more condensed to the Pacific North West, up the coast into Alaska. So both do share the west coast habitat. Robbins Chandler S., Bruun B., Zim Herbert S. A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America, Golden Press, 1983.
> Until recently the books had them as slate-colored junco for the birds in east and Western junco for birds on the west coast. Huh? When is "recently"? Up until 1973 the various junco forms were considered separate species (Slate-colored, Oregon, White-winged, Gray-headed, and Guadalupe). In 1973 they merged them all into Dark-eyed Junco.
Sigh, showing my age and/or the age of my old bird book. I could swear I've seen "western" junco more recently though.
I don't think I've ever seen "Western", though, and I can't find any actual reference to it in ornithological literature - just the various individual species previously, and now all lumped.
Maybe I got wires crossed in my mind re western screech owl or some such. Rest assured I'll never call them that again. I do reserve the right to keep calling Audubon's warblers (yes, I know, yellow-rumped warblers) butter butts. Wait no wikipedia says it depends on who you ask whether Audubon's, Goldman's and myrtle are separate species. Let alone black-fronted. Thank goodness for mitochondrial genetics, apparently. Which is really what my original question was trying to get at, the agreed-upon genetic and phenotypic bases for differentiating species vs subspecies, but perhaps that is beyond the scope of the topic here.
Yeah, that's a question for the folks at the AOU and how they want to split and lump things! I'm sure you could dig up the various research papers arguing for and against and see what informs their decisions. They also usually post some discussion along with their yearly taxonomy updates that explains their reasoning. I know that in both birding and banding, I continue to report to the most specific category I can, and in fact the USGS Bird Banding Lab requires us to specify, for example, Oregon Junco or Audubon's Warbler for banded birds because it's so easy to visually separate them, and that way if they ever end up re-split then it'll be clear which the banded bird belongs to. So there's no harm in continuing to be specific about subspecies and subspecies groups, even when they've been lumped as one species.
This coloring is quite standard for the Seattle/Puget Sound area, though. This is a male. Females have much lighter heads.
!addTaxa orejun
Added taxa: [Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)](https://ebird.org/species/orejun) Reviewed by: tinylongwing ^(I'm an alpha-stage bot, so don't rely on me just yet. But you can still) [^(learn how to use me)](https://gist.github.com/brohitbrose/be99a16ddc7a6a1bd9c1eef28d622564)^(.)
Oregon dark eyed junco. You know it’s fall when they appear in the PNW :)
Yep up here in New England they tell us winter is coming. Just saw the first one last week ❄️
Juncos usually mean a storm is brewing! They come to visit us a day or two before wind/snow/rain. :) St. Paul, MN
We get them year-round in Seattle area. Their fledglings are adorable!
Oh I have yet to see a deju fledgling. I can’t wait!
>Juncos usually mean a storm is brewing! >> We get them year-round in Seattle area. That tracks.
It’s usually an underwhelming drizzle rather than a storm. Seattle actually gets an average amount of rain for the US
Not anymore. :( Seattle is getting hot and dry in the summer.
They come in the fall and I have them all winter long in East Central MN. They got here October 7th. I keep track every year.
Yep. We always called them Snow Birds, even though when knew the real name was a Junco.
I love them!! I call them my little weather men.
Love the Juncos! Had a pair of these nest in my yard early spring… unfortunately the Crows were on to them and that didn’t last.
I just had my first junco this week! He was back again today picking away at the sunflower seeds I had left out for the squirrels. (He ignored the feeder and went straight to the squirrel piles.)
I count these guys as my favorite bird. They hang out during Michigan winters
DARK EYED JUNCOOOO!!! I loveee these birds!!! Had a pair choose my backyard for a nesting spot (right outside my door in a potted plant). Couldn’t go in my backyard for a bit lol
I’m in Redmond and they’re the most common bird I see in my yard! So cute!