Dark-eyed Juncos are medium sized sparrows that always have stout, pink bills, rounded heads and white outer edges to their tails. Geographically they have color variation. Mostly Dark-eyed Juncos are gray or brown, some have rufous and pink colors in addition to the grays and browns.
A Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco enchanted me with soft calls and a subtle appearance. They bring joy to any outdoor scene anywhere, in any season. I adore them.
Along with a cool front, the juncos have returned to Arkansas, including this subtle but lovely female Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco I photographed yesterday.
Snow is supposed to start falling around 10 a.m. where I live in northern Utah. It might be the first significant snowfall of this winter down in the valley.
Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.
Earlier this week I photographed a male Dark-eyed Junco in snow close to home in poor, low light conditions. I am happy with how the photo turned out.
One of the Dark-eyed Juncos that I had in my viewfinder was perched on top of a rabbitbrush with seeds and fluff in its bill that turned its head towards me.
One of the seasonal changes I look for in autumn is when I see that the Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
Small birds like these White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches need cover that provides safety for them from predators.
As common as Dark-eyed Juncos are I have surprisingly few photos of them in my galleries and that is why I get excited when I can add a new photo of them to my portfolio.
Even though I came home with very few photos I'm still glad I went wandering. I had great views, sunshine, birds to delight my eyes and ears and I soaked it all up like a thirsty sponge.
I was in the high Uinta Mountains near Washington Lake when I spotted this young Dark-eyed Junco and I was able to take a few images of it before it flew away.
Three days ago I was able to photograph a female or immature Dark-eyed Junco of the Oreganus Group when it flew in and landed not too far away from me and I have to admit that seeing it excited me because I enjoy these birds so much.
I was only able to photograph one of the Dark-eyed Juncos I saw yesterday because it was the only one that stayed still long enough for me to raise my lens, focus and fire my shutter button, the rest were way too skittish.
As the snow from the storm fell I noticed some of the Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the ground and I was able to photograph this junco's portrait as it hid behind a mound of snow.
Yesterday while looking for birds to photograph a single Dark-eyed Junco popped up into my view and perched on a dried mullein stalk in front of blooming rabbitbrush.
I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway.
When I lived in Virginia I could almost predict when the first snow would fall because the juncos showed at my feeders up a day or two before the first winter storm.