The Junco or Slate-Colored Snowbird — Finch Family — Fringillidæ
Length: About 6¼ inches; slightly smaller than the English sparrow.
General Appearance: Trim, dainty little birds, all gray and white, except for a pinkish or flesh-colored bill. White outer tail-feathers, showing in flight, are distinguishing marks.
Male: Dark slate-gray above and white below. The gray extends to the center of the breast in a nearly horizontal line, and with the white under parts, gives the effect of the birds’ having waded breast-deep in the snow, or having been sliced in two, like the “sliced animals” of our childhood. Sides grayish; wings slightly darker; tail dark brown, with two outer feathers white; third feather, partly white; bill heavy, adapted to a diet of seeds.
Female: Similar to male, only brownish-gray. Winter plumage of all juncos browner than summer plumage.
Young: Light brownish, streaked with black.
Note: A gentle tseep, tseep, and a smack, smack, of alarm or distress.
Song: A tender, sweet trill in the spring. Though monotonous, the song is very pleasing.
Habitat: Groves of conifers; thickets of bushes or vines, or clumps of weeds.
Nest: Juncos’ nests are built of mosses or grasses on or near the ground. The speckled eggs and the streaked babies are excellent examples of protective coloring. The nests are sometimes placed very near houses, if the surroundings are to the liking of the birds.
Range: Eastern and northern North America. Breeds from the tree-limit of Alaska and Canada southward to northern United States,—northern Minnesota, central Michigan, Maine, the mountains of New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; winters throughout eastern United States and southern Canada to the Gulf Coast.
The Carolina Junco, nesting in the southern Appalachian mountains, is a subspecies, differing but very slightly in color.
Juncos are gentle, attractive little creatures that come to our thickets when the chill of autumn has driven away our insectivorous birds. Being seed-eaters, they do not fear winter snows, except those that cover tall weeds. According to Professor Beal, juncos should be rigidly protected. They not only destroy large quantities of weed seeds, thereby rendering service to agriculture, but they eat harmful insects, of which caterpillars are their favorite. They do no damage to fruit or grain.17
Mr. Forbush writes of the junco as follows: “The Snowbird does not often breed in Massachusetts, excepting on the higher lands of the north-central and western parts of the State. Pairs are said to nest occasionally in ice-houses, which are certainly cool, if not suitable situations. It is a bird of the Canadian fauna, and it winters in Massachusetts whenever conditions are favorable. In the southeastern portion of the State, where the ground is bare in sheltered places through much of the winter, or where weed seed, chaff, and other food can be secured, this bird is common in the colder months. Its notes at this season are chiefly sparrow like chirps.
“A flock of these dark birds on the new-fallen snow is an interesting sight on a cold winter’s day, as they come familiarly about the house or barnyard. Audubon says that in winter they burrow in stacks of corn or hay for shelter at night during the continuance of inclement weather. As spring comes they begin to sing much like the Chipping Sparrow. They converse together with a musical twittering, and about the first of May they leave for their northern breeding-ground.”18