Thursday, December 8, 2011

Junco Kinda - Comments Requested !

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I have this bird at a feeder.  It appears to be a Junco of some kind.  To me it looks like a cross with a Pink-sided Junco. In the top picture you can see there is more white in the left wing than in the right wing; the Pink-sided doesn't have that much white in the wing.  Maybe I have a three-way split. :-)  I need another bird for my year list, so give me some good answers.
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Charlie DeWitt
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Female Oregon Junco?

Mike VanderStelt said...

I think it's a juvenile Snow Bunting, here's an example shot I sound on the web.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/6280541314/
If you look at it, against all your angles, -- it stacks up pretty well. call me & let me know charles.
Mike VanderStelt

Josh said...

Definite junco, looks pretty good for Pink-sided but clearly has some unusual features.

sissypants said...

This seems to be a female western Dark-eyed Junco subspecies to me. There are several plumage discrepancies between this bird and an immature SNBU, most notably the tail patterns and the extensive slaty-gray patches on the head. In addition, this bird is shaped perfectly for a junco. According to eBird, Oregon Junco would be by far more likely than Pink-sided Junco, and it is notable that there are no eBirded Pink-sided Junco records anywhere near this area... Oregon Junco would be an understandable bird for this area at this time of year.

Ric said...

I was visiting relatives at Idaho/Oregon last month. Most of their juncos are of the Oregon variety, but a few of the dark-eyed type also. There's a lot of variance in the Oregon type from sort of pink-sided looking all the way to sort of gray. But bad news, Charlie. It's "just a junco" either way, so if you add it to your list, a few of us will be paying you a visit -- and I don't mean a social call either! ;-)

Ric said...

Mike VanderStelt added this comment: "Let's 'just not talk about 'my earlier comment in your thread. I don't know what similarities I was seeing, but -- all's forgotten (or better be) ;) Anyway, I think Anonymous hit it on the head; I found a shot on the web also of a female Oregon Junco, and it looks might close."