Bird Watching: Juncos seem to travel in pairs

My morning routine (wake up, brush teeth, drink coffee, drink another coffee, smile at the world) has expanded to include ‘feed birds.’


[“Why is there a bunny on my diaper pail?”: photos GH]

The bird seed bin (a rescued diaper pail) is handy to the back door and the seed mix from Home Hardware in Wortley Village has attracted sparrows, morning doves, chickadees and several darn squirrels all summer.


[“Darn squirrels. They sit in my feeders too”]

Now it’s regularly attracting cardinals and juncos too.

The junco is new to my back yard, as far as I know - which isn’t far.


[“Juncos go for the seeds I leave on the deck”]

According to an online site, “this medium-sized sparrow (aka Junco hyemalis) can vary in color, but is generally slate gray with a white belly and, of course, dark eyes. White along the sides of the tail can be seen when the bird is in flight. Some birds have buff flanks.”


(animal.discovery.com)

I think I have about 3 - 4 pairs visiting each day and their white tail feathers make a distinctive appearance whenever they retreat to my spruce tree to digest their meals.

I should be able to get a good picture of the juncos soon. They stay on the ground - not as nervous as sparrows - when I peek through my back window.

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Do you have your feeder ready to go?

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