Dark-Eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
Habitat
Ground
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
20 g
About This Species
Often nicknamed the snowbird, this small sparrow forages on the ground in loose, twittering flocks, scratching through leaf litter and scuffed snow for seeds. Plumage varies considerably across its range, from the slate-grey eastern form to pink-flanked and hooded western populations, though all show the same flash of white outer tail feathers in flight. Winter is the easiest season to find it, when birds move down from breeding elevations into gardens, woodland edges, and feeder stations.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- In the United States this species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so nests, eggs, and young must not be disturbed, though the details of protection and enforcement differ elsewhere across its range.
- Ground nests hidden in low vegetation or slight hollows are easily trampled or exposed to predators if approached too closely, so keep well back from any suspected nest site and avoid pushing through undergrowth during the breeding season.
- Feeding flocks in winter tolerate observers reasonably well from a few metres away, especially if movements are slow and quiet.
LCAvesPasseriformesPasserellidae
Seasonal Activity
13,969,880 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 20 g
Photo
(c) Becky Matsubara, some rights reserved (CC BY)
CC-BY-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.