• The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), a member of the sparrow family, is a common bird across the country with six regional populations, many of which can be found in Colorado. The “Slate-colored” and “Oregon” (pictured) varieties are most common in Colorado in the winter.

• Both of these varieties have dark blackish heads, while the “Slate-colored” is mostly gray and the “Oregon” has a reddish back and flanks.  Males tend to have darker coloration than the females.  Bellies are white and bills are pinkish. And, of course, all populations have dark eyes outlined with black “eyeliner”.

• All Juncos are easily recognizable in flight by the white outer feathers of their tails, and they're about 6” long with a 9” wingspan.

• In the summer, look for Dark-eyed Juncos in the mountain forests while in the winter, you'll find them in shrubby greenbelts in the city where they typically forage on the ground. 

• The Junco song is a soft metallic trill and the alarm call is a series of clicks.

• Juncos enjoy a diet of seeds, berries, and insects and will come to feeders, often eating the seeds that have been spilled on the ground below the feeder.

• The “Gray-headed” population of Dark-eyed Junco is the only one that breeds in Colorado, mainly in the mountains.  Nests are built in hidden niches on the ground or low in trees or shrubs.  The female lays 3-5 eggs which hatch in 11-13 days.  Both parents feed the young which fledge in 9-13 days.  The pair may raise two broods each summer.

• A flock of Dark-Eyed Juncos is called a “blizzard”.  Juncos were given the nickname "snowbirds” because they are seen in small flocks in the winter months in most places in the United States.  Their conservation status is “Least Concern”, meaning they are abundant and widespread.

References: Sibley Birds West by David Allen Sibley, Audubon.org, All About Birds by Cornell Lab of Ornithology.