Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

Dark-eyed Junco

The Dark-eyed Junco for me is the symbol of winter in North-Eastern Illinois. They are at my feeders all winter long. I can't help but almost want them to be gone, because that would mean that spring was well on its way!

I don't really think of Juncos as being in the sparrow family but they are absolutely a part of it. I often hear them twittering away in the undergrowth while walking through the winter woods. The quick diagnostic is the white outer tail feathers. The female is drabber and browner than the male - they are not difficult to tell apart.

We don't commonly get the other sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco but there are a total of six sub-species. We get the 'Slate-colored' form.

Here is a sketch of a photo I took last winter of a male Junco feeding on the ground below my feeders. They will readily feed on the feeders themselves and often stay in the bushes very close to my house.