For The Birds: That Little Jobbie with the White Tail Feathers

Male Oregon Junco
Photo by Craig Kerns

By Christine Southwick

Are you seeing birds dive into a bush, showing a flash of white tail feathers? In this area those are juncos. 

Stand still, watch for movement and flashes of white on or near the ground and listen for their contact call, a kind of a clicking sound.

Dark-eyed Juncos are the most common bird in North America with our area having them all year long. 

The more white outer feathers, the older the bird.
Photo by Chris Southwick

The Middle US only has them during wintertime when they migrate from Canada—that’s where they are known as Snowbirds.

Juncos are part of the Sparrow family and eat and nest mainly on the ground. The Dark-eyed Juncos we have here are a sub-species called Oregon Juncos.

The rapid trill of the mate-seeking, territorial male is delightful, and if you find a nest in a hanging basket, it is probably a junco’s. 

Juncos do not use nest boxes, preferring to hide their nests on or near the ground. I’ve had juncos nesting in evergreen clematis and other low dense bushes. 

This male is feeding his young while the
 mother is probably on a second brood
Photo by Chris Southwick

The female, who sometimes sings, hides her nest for 3-5 eggs, usually in a clump of grass, behind a log, rock or tree root. Some have learned that fuchsia baskets, whose flowers hummingbirds frequent, make great nesting sites. (Tip - use a watering can with a long spout to water the edges of the plant until the babies fledge.)

Both parents feed their young and often raise a second brood here, with the father feeding the first brood while the female is on the second brood. The male has a dark black head and hood, the female’s is grayish sometimes with a little brown.

Presumed successful nest found
while pruning ferns
Photo by Chris Southwick

Since juncos are ground feeders and nesters, cats are especially dangerous to juncos, and should be kept indoors, even at night. Because ground nests are so vulnerable, juncos leave the nest 9-12 days after hatching, before they can fly.

If you want juncos in your yard, plant flowers and put up a feeder (they like millet). 

Provide water and shrubs, and evergreen trees for shade. Juncos prefer escape routes using multi–stemmed shrubs, like rhodys and snowberry. 

Besides, it’s fun to watch them plummet from a small branch, and brake just before certain destruction.