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Pacific Grove MTY |
 "Oregon"
Junco (above);
"Gray-headed" Junco (right) |
Pacific Grove MTY |
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Pacific Grove MTY |
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"Oregon"
Junco (above);
"Gray-headed" Junco (right) |
Pacific Grove MTY |
The DARK-EYED JUNCO is a widespread breeder in montane coniferous woodlands throughout the state, and along the central California coast where summer fogs maintain cool coniferous woodlands such as on the Monterey Peninsula chaparral throughout the higher mountains of California. Some populations are resident (such as the subspecies pinosus, named for Pt. Pinos just blocks from my house) but those in the mountains are migratory. In winter, California is flooded with additional juncos from northern and eastern populations. Many are "Oregon Juncos" from western populations (including oreganus, montanus, shufeldti, and thurberi), "Pink-sided Juncos" (e.g., mearnsi) from the Great Basin winter in southeastern California, and the more northern or eastern "Slate-colored Junco" (races hyemalis and cismontanus) appears in small numbers in wintering junco flocks throughout the lowlands. "Gray-headed Juncos" (J. h. caniceps) breed in the White Mountains and elsewhere in isolated mountains of southeastern California, and are found in small numbers in winter in the deserts with a very few vagrants reaching the coast. The "White-winged Junco" (J. h. aikeni) of the Black Hills is strictly a rare vagrant any in California.
Dark-eyed Juncos nest in my yard and bring youngsters to the feeder each year. I've only extracted a few observations of scarcer subspecies below. I've had several apparently "pure" Slate-coloreds in my yard and elsewhere around town, plus various intergrades. The few listed below showed all the characters of "pure" individuals:
Slate-colored JuncoSee the family page for county abbreviations. All photos & text © 2002 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.
11/3/79 Deep Springs INY 2: male & female
12/31/81 Moonglow Dairy MTY 1 male
3/12/82 Elkhorn Slough Est. Res. Reserve MTY 1 male wintering
plus numerous others since themGray-headed Junco
5/17/75 Clark Mt. SBE 2 [nesting locale]
5/15/76 Clark Mt. SBE 7 [nesting locale]
3/5/78 Glamis IMP
11/24/78 Earp SBE 2 in flock that also had a “Pink-sided”
11/13/79 Schulman Grove INY 2 [nesting locale]
6/14/97 Clark Mt. SBE 1 [nesting locale]
11/14/99 Pacific Grove MTY 1 caniceps in our yard; very rare vagrant here; photoWhite-winged Junco
2/24/01 Silver Spring, E of Laws INY 1 wintering stake-out; very rare in state; description in notes