{"id":138176,"date":"2024-12-24T02:43:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T08:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138176"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:15:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T22:15:58","slug":"snow-birds-winter-slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/24\/snow-birds-winter-slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow Birds – Winter Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco Images"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no snow in the forecast, but that won’t prevent me from sharing winter Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco images, which are also known as snow birds.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco in winter \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/200, ISO 1250, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These Slate-colored Dark-eyed Juncos were photographed three days ago when the light was beautiful. It was fairly cold that morning, and the birds were coming to the feeders frequently and eating voraciously.<\/p>\n

I’ve always had a fondness for Dark-eyed Juncos. My mother and I used to call each other when they first showed up at our feeders in Virginia. They frequently appeared a few days before the first snowfall of the season arrived. I miss those calls.<\/p>\n

In Arkansas, the juncos showed up weeks ago, and they probably still have a long wait before it actually snows here.<\/p>\n

This male Dark-eyed Junco provided me with a lovely series of photos as he perched on the driftwood near the seed feeder. In my opinion, he is one handsome bird. He certainly caught my attention.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco in winter \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Canon 100-400mm at 360mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the morning, when the light was a bit brighter, this female Dark-eyed Junco flew in and posed beautifully, much to my delight.<\/p>\n

Note that she has lighter, more brownish-gray flanks compared to the darker flanks of the male shown above. That feature, along with others, can help determine the gender of Slate-colored Dark-eyed Juncos<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Males have a darker, charcoal-gray coloration on their head, chest, back, and wings, whereas females are generally more brownish-gray and appear “washed-out.” Both sexes have white bellies, but the contrast between the belly and the rest of the body is more pronounced in males.<\/p>\n

I truly hope to have opportunities to photograph juncos in the snow here in Arkansas. Only time will tell.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas Eve!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Dark-eyed Junco photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no snow in the forecast, but that won’t prevent me from sharing winter Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco images, which are also known as snow birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13950,2749,13951],"tags":[4004,2750,1996,13981,4070,13931,6036,2751,15908,6037,4062,4104,15907,855,4195,15824,373,13966],"class_list":["post-138176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-dark-eyed-juncos","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-dark-eyed-junco","tag-driftwood","tag-feeder","tag-female","tag-garden","tag-junco","tag-junco-hyemalis","tag-junco-hyemalis-hyemalis","tag-juncos","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-slate-colored","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-suburban","tag-winter","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t