Friday, December 24, 2010

Dark-eyed Junco - Slate-colored

While growing up in Minnesota, I remember one of the common birds in the winter was the Slated-colored Junco. They were fun to watch and looked great against the snow.
When I moved out to Oregon in the late 80's, it was a treat to see the Oregon Juncos. The peachy feathers on their sides and brown backs added color to the plain gray of the Slate-colored.
Now, having gotten serious about birding again, I learned that the two Junco varieties I am familiar with were merged together in 1973 as one species, the Dark-eyed Junco, along with three other variations; the White-winged, the Pink-sided and the Gray-headed.
I got to see some Slate-colored varieties during my last trip to Atlanta, but it wasn't until yesterday at TRNWR that I saw one out here in Oregon.

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