Dark-eyed Junco
“On October 23 the first sizable party of Dark-eyed Juncos arrived on our property.”
Through the year
Columns that mention it, by the month they were published.
Year by year
Columns that mention it each year.
In his words
Ten of the 26 passages, oldest first.
Our yard hosted the first dark-eyed Junco’s of the season on Oct. 24.
Slate colored Dark Eyed Junco’s are starting to twitter and trill - perhaps sensing that their time to retreat northward is close at hand.
This bird’s song is very similar to that of the Dark-eyed Juncos and somewhat similar to that of a Pine warbler.
Oddly I’ve seen very few Black-eyed Junco’s so far this season, and after an early wave of action the White Throated Sparrow count is behind last years tally as well.
White-throated sparrows and Black-eyed juncos are noticeably fewer than this same time period last year.
On one day I counted nearly twenty Song Sparrows on my lawn mixed in with White-throated sparrows and more than a couple boisterous Dark-eyed Juncos.
On October 23 the first sizable party of Dark-eyed Juncos arrived on our property.
Oddly I’ve seen very few Black-eyed Juncos so far this season, and after an early wave of action the White-throated Sparrow count is behind last year’s tally as well.
Also, White-throated sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos (referred to as ground feeders) numbers appear to be below average this season.
Other winter birds like White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos also retreat northward each spring in significant numbers, however not all of them depart.
Show all 26 passages
On the 24th, three Northern Flickers were spotted along Shore Road and on this same day the first of the season Dark-eyed Junco appeared below our feeders.
December 9 brought a small influx of slate-colored Black-eyed Junco’s and a passing, Red-shafted Northern Flicker to our backyard.
Also, White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos (referred to as ground feeders) numbers appear to be below average again for the second winter in a row.
On April 9 I noted a Fox Sparrow and many singing Dark-eyed Juncos and White Throated Sparrows in my backyard.
On October 5 the first Dark-eyed Junco of the season showed up in our yard as did two Northern Flickers who clung to our suet feeder, one on each side.
…I am thankful for many things, including the fine sweet trill of Red-breasted Nuthatches, the way a Brown Creeper’s song calls to mind pine boughs sighing in the wind or the low sweet melodies sung by Dark-eyed Juncos and the hurried winter song from ever the curious Carolina Wren couple.
White-throated Sparrows, Dark Eyed Juncos along with the last big waves of blackbirds have yet to arrive in Cape.
Winter backyard residents such as the White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco are arriving, migrant songbirds and shorebirds are still trickling through from further north, ocean birds like Scoters…
Notes from the yard and field over the last several weeks include: after the snowstorm in early January there were widespread and noticeable movements of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos across Cape.
Slightly bigger than a chickadee, the bird stood out from its cousins the White Throated Sparrow and Dark-Eyed Junco with its slim, long-tailed look, chestnut cap and black stripe through the eye.
As December rolls through, the daily rhythm of the backyard revolves around Dark-eyed Juncos flitting.
…the hurried winter song from the ever curious Carolina Wren couple, the cheery warbler of rosy-red House Finches, the low sweet melodies sung by Dark-eyed Juncos, and the querulous chatter of five Eastern Bluebirds socializing around the birdbath on a shivery morning.
Amongst the dozen or so Song Sparrows, three White-throated Sparrows and pair of Dark-eyed Juncos below our bird feeder on March 23, the Fox Sparrow stood out in the crowd.
This bird’s song is similar that of the Dark-eyed Juncos and somewhat like that of a Pine warbler.
Travelling along Fessenden Road yielded hundreds more White-throated Sparrows and several Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows.
As December settles in with snow and below average temperatures my backyard ebbs and flows with familiar winter activity: Dark-eyed Juncos chasing, White-throated Sparrows scratching, Cardinals glowing, Goldfinches clinging, Carolina Wrens creeping, House Finches and Chickadees dashing…