Tag Archives: dark eyed juncos north carolina

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Dark eyed Juncos: Return of the Snowbird

With the arrival of winter, I’m always happy when the dark-eyed Juncos show up to my yard in central North Carolina.
I spotted this one back in September along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Normally Juncos are a wintertime bird here in the Tarheel state, but there are quite a few of them that call the Blue Ridge Mountains home all year round.



Did you know that Dark-eyed Juncos tend to return to the same exact spot every winter?
This means that you have likely will see many of the same birds at your feeder this winter that you’ve had visiting in previous years.
Offer millet & black oil sunflower seeds and you’ll likely see a ton of them in your own yard too!

Interestingly, female juncos tend to migrate earlier and fly farther south than the males who prefer to spend their winter in locations further to the north.
It is believed that this shortens the male birds travel time/distance required for their spring migration, thus giving them the advantage of arriving first to stake out their territory on prime breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska.

What about you?
Have you seen Dark eyed Juncos in your yard yet this year?
Leave your answer in the comments below 🙂

*By the way, many of you have asked what camera I use to take my shots. I’m on a full frame Canon 5Ds. With 50 MP of resolution and great mid range tonal capture, it’s a real beast and probably my favorite camera I’ve ever owned.
All those mega pixels allow me to crop really tight if my lens won’t give me the reach I’m looking for and the 5DS’s incredible resolution processing results are pure magic, even when pixel peeping lol!
Want to see what I mean?
Check out the second image in this post below which is the original of the first photo featured here.
Freak’n awwwwwesome!



Photo by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Winterbirds in the summer: Dark eyed Juncos in western N.C.

One of the joys of birding in the mountains of North Carolina during the late summer & autumn is finding the birds that one usually sees in the wintertime here in the Triangle region.
Commonly referred to as the “Snowbird” by residents of central and eastern NC, the Dark eyed Junco calls the higher elevations of western NC home year round.



Often traveling in small family flocks, these birds are constantly on the move as they forage in the low brushy scrub areas in a never ending search for a meal.
I spotted this one at the Craggy Gardens Picnic area along the Blue Ridge Parkway while leading a bird tour here last month. Interestingly, the Juncos that I’ve seen up in the mountains appear to be larger in size than the ones that I typically see in my yard in central NC during the winter. Whatever they are finding to eat around here clearly serves them well in building fat reserves for colder weather ahead 😉

During the warmer months, Dark eyed Juncos feed mainly on insects, seeds and occasionally berries. Once the cold weather arrives, their diet consists of entirely seeds.
They are known to practice an interesting foraging method called “riding.” They’ll fly up and land onto a seed cluster on the top of a flimsy stem then catch a gravity assisted “ride” it to the ground where they pick off the shower of seeds that dropped on the way down.
Thinking that the round ones I’ve seen up in the mountains have that behavior down to a science lol!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Dark eyed juncos in the summer in North Carolina

While birding at Craggy Gardens off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in N.C. I spotted a juvenile Dark eyed Junco and it’s parent in the brush.
The youngster was calling out to be fed as it hopped from branch to branch following it’s parent who was searching for insects in the grass.
I was so excited to see this little one since Juncos don’t breed in the part of central N.C. where I live. In fact, Dark eyed Juncos primarily breed in Canada and this thin little strip of land along the higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains is one of very few places along the East Coast of the U.S. where the Junco‘s nest in the lower 48.
I’d never seen a fledgling before, so I sat still for a while and simply enjoyed these brief moments watching the birds in front of me.



Dark eyed Juncos nesting sites are almost always on ground, well hidden in the grass, under brush piles, rocks, or at the bases of trees among the exposed roots.
With rocks, dense rhododendron thickets, and gnarled old trees, the habitat here at Craggy Gardens is absolutely perfect for their needs.
Their nests are shaped like an open cup and is constructed of weeds and leaves, lined with a soft fine grass, pine needles and sometimes with hair or feathers.
The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 13 days and the young leave the nest about 9 to 13 days after hatching.
Unlike most others of their species, the population of Juncos here in the mountains do not migrate so you can see them all year round.
Oh and speaking of round lol, the Juncos up here appear to be much larger then the ones that I see in central N.C. during the winter.
I’m not sure if this is due to their summer diet or hormonal conditions during the breeding season but the size difference is quite apparent (and absolutely adorable).

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the stellar full frame SLR, the @canonusa #5ds

Field Notes

Dark eyed Juncos: the Snowbird of the south

By: Sally Siko- Admin Birdwatching NC

Spotted quite a few dark-eyed Juncos this morning before the rain moved in.


Here in central N.C., many call them “Snowbirds” since the first flocks of winter migrants arrives along with the push of late November cold fronts.
The Dark-eyed Junco is similar to many other sparrows in its diet and foraging habits.
Their wintertime diet is primarily weed and grass seeds but occasionally they’ll eat small fruits and waste grains.
On a year-round basis, the diet is usually made up by three-quarters seeds and about one quarter insects.
Juncos display a variety of foraging behaviors, including gleaning, pecking, and scratching in the leaf litter in search of seeds and insects. During the winter, they’ll form large mixed flocks, often in the company of Chickadees, Cardinals, Sparrows, and Goldfinches, banding together to crowdsource food gathering efforts with other species of birds.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds

Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Dark- eyed Juncos have returned to central North Carolina

The Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in central N.C. !
It’s funny because I was just lamenting this morning on the fact that I haven’t seen any yet despite the recent cold front that has moved through.
Then this afternoon, a pair of them showed up on my property tagging along with a flock of Song Sparrows.
In my world, the first Junco sighting means that winter will soon be here.
So happy to see them again 🙂


If you’re unfamiliar with these lovely birds, Dark-eyed Juncos are pretty easy to identify. Males are mostly dark slate gray colored on their back, wings, and head, with a clean white belly. Females will usually have a mix of brown tones blending with the gray.


They are a common sight at backyard feeders across North Carolina in the cooler months. They are easy enough to attract with a good seed mix.
Some of their favorite foods include Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Hulled Sunflower Seeds, Safflower, Nyjer, Cracked Corn, Peanut Hearts, Millet, Oats, and Milo.


Dark-eyed Juncos will spend their winters here until returning to our northern states in the spring for breeding season. There are even small populations of permanent resident Juncos in the mountains of western N.C!
I say, if you are lucky enough to have Juncos all year round, how do you know that wintertime is coming?!

Photos by @sally_siko
Canon 5Ds