{"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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"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":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/dark-eyed-junco-winter-mia-mcpherson-0670.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zWE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":137182,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/20\/enchanting-slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco\/","url_meta":{"origin":138176,"position":0},"title":"Enchanting Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco enchanted me with soft calls and a subtle appearance. They bring joy to any outdoor scene anywhere, in any season. I adore them.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco in Arkansas, Sebastian County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-slate-colored-junco-fall-arkansas-ma-mcpherson-8633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-slate-colored-junco-fall-arkansas-ma-mcpherson-8633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-slate-colored-junco-fall-arkansas-ma-mcpherson-8633.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-slate-colored-junco-fall-arkansas-ma-mcpherson-8633.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136133,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/02\/slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":138176,"position":1},"title":"Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Along with a cool front, the juncos have returned to Arkansas, including this subtle but lovely female Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco I photographed yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco female in Arkansas, Sebastian County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-female-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5599.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/20\/low-light-dark-eyed-junco-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":138176,"position":2},"title":"Low Light Dark-eyed Junco In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I photographed a male Dark-eyed Junco in snow close to home in poor, low light conditions. I am happy with how the photo turned out.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light Dark-eyed Junco in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/dark-eyed-junco-adult-male-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-3307.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":167615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/27\/snowy-dark-eyed-junco-close-ups\/","url_meta":{"origin":138176,"position":3},"title":"Snowy Dark-eyed Junco Close Ups","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago, during Winter Storm Fern, I was able to sit outside and photograph snowy Dark-eyed Junco close ups; sometimes they were even too close.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco male portrait, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-snowstorm-ok-mia-mcpherson-4948.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138810,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/16\/snowy-slate-colored-dark-eyed-junco-photos-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":138176,"position":4},"title":"Snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco Photos From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The second day of the big snowstorm here in Arkansas last week had me out on the deck, taking snowy Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco photos along with other birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco in fog and snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/dark-eyed-junco-slate-colored-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-9000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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