Dark-Eyed Junco | November 2004 |
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The dark-eyed, slate-gray, or northern junco (ornithologists just cannot make up their minds what to call these birds) is a remarkably striking bird, about the size of a sparrow (or a type of sparrow).
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The junco's combination of dark gray on top and white below is unmistakable (or as unmistakable as anything can be regarding bird identification). Especially in their flight, one sees a whirl of gray and white: very beautiful!
Juncos prefer feeding from the ground - at least around our bird feeders. And about the time I thought all my junco photos would be from the top down, I managed to get a few shots (from a long ways away) of a junco in a bush:
On Long Island I saw juncos only during the coldest times of winter. Since I moved to State College, Pennsylvania, juncos were among the first birds at the feeding area (since they prefer to let other birds toss seed onto the ground). | ||
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Photo note: I used a Pentax *istD, with the SMC-A* 300mm lens with a Pentax 1.4x adapter for the top and bottom photos and the SMC 400-600mm reflex for the middle one. |