Dark-eyed juncos, the notorious "snowbirds."
I took this photo of these dark-eyed juncos yesterday.
These birds tend to show up in large flocks whenever it snows. They tend to be more common at higher elevations and farther north.
However, at least a pair or two of these birds are residents, and I’ve seen them at the feeders even during the warm days of Indian summer.
Because they tend to be very common at feeders when it snows, they have been named “snowbirds.” In fact, if I said the words “dark-eyed junco” around these parts, no one would know what I’m talking about. These are snowbirds.
These birds are standing on about 14 inches of snow. Most this snow fell Friday night and early Saturday morning, but it was still coming down at 4 o’clock yesterday evening. (In December, 4 o’clock is evening, not afternoon.)
And how could I conclude that post without this song?
These are some of my favorite birds. Here in central VA they’re in my neighborhood every winter, regardless of snow. They’re quite noisy and brazen little creatures.
Whenever I put fresh seed in the feeder, they sing with delight. That’s my favorite part about them.
When we were kids, the local television station would announce school closings from snow in what were called “Snow Bird Reports.” A puppet snowbird (which looked like a penguin) would announce school closings.
At my grandparents’ house the snowbirds roosted in a Colorado blue spruce that was planted right beside the feeders. You could shine a light into the blue spruce and see dozens of them.
This storm has given me two interesting bird moments. I feed my dog just outside the door, and if she leaves any kibble, the titmice will eat it. However, today, the titmice suddenly took off from the dog bowl. And then I heard, a screaming blue jay. The blue jay then landed on the dog bowl, and it gobbled down a few kibbles. Normally, blue jays don’t come that close to the house.
I also have a hermit thrush that is flying around on our decks and porches eating holly berries from our decorations. It’s a tame bird. You can stand there and look at it, and it will turn its head to look right back at you.
I am NOT watching that video, because if I do, that song will (once again), be stuck in my head for the next three months, leading me to contemplate ramming a screw driver into my brain as a sort of home made lobotomy.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the John Candy film called Canadian Bacon, but this song was played over and over in the film whenever the scene was in Canada.
I PURPOSELY put dog kibble in my bird food/wildlife mixture–so many birds are attracted by this addition–blue jays, grackles, brown thrashers, wrens, cowbirds, crows, etc., etc., etc. And of course, coons ‘possums, foxes, and coyotes like it too!(which I enjoy attractingevery bit as much as the birds!) Suprisingly, the gray squirrels seem to have little interest in dog kibble, which I found suprising considering squirrels’ sometimes carnivorous habits.
I do the same thing, so that the blue jays won’t dominate the feeder.
I have a gentleman of a fox squirrel that lets all sorts of other creatures eat around him.