One month into the fall season and it finally feels like autumn in Arizona. Aspen trees in the mountains and cottonwoods in the river valleys all glow yellow against a backdrop of blue skies. Meanwhile temperatures have dipped below freezing in many areas and desert homes have switched off their air conditioners and turned on their electric heat pumps. And one more sign that it's almost winter - dark-eyed juncos are making a showy appearance.
The red-backed member of this sparrow family is quite common in the pine forests of Arizona. This form is one of several sub-species, or races, of the dark-eyed junco, a bird that ranges over most of Canada and the United States. The juncos' separate breeding grounds in different corners of the continent seem to maintain the races' identifying traits, which are mostly found in coloring.
I've come to associate the red-backed sub-species with my leisurely visits to Prescott. Predominately steel-gray with his namesake dorsal patch, the sparrow is a frequent visitor to my yard, seed feeder, and birdbath at all times of year. He's relatively easy to approach and photograph like most of the year-round birds at my cabin.
In contrast, as the summer warmth gives way to autumn's cool breezes, shyer junco sub-species start visiting my Prescott property. As recently as last winter, I photographed an individual of what's known as the Oregon form pecking through various stones and grasses. Unlike the year-round resident red-backed form, this sub-species is easily scared off.
This wariness shouldn't be surprising as the winter visitor is a migratory bird, visiting northern Arizona for the season from less hospitable climates frequently situated much farther north. The Oregon form, sporting its black head along with pink bill and sides, breeds in the Pacific coastal mountains from southeast Alaska to as far south as Baja California. Since I've been paying attention to avian wildlife, I've noticed this bird regularly spends the colder months in my Prescott neighborhood.
But another subspecies, known as the slate-colored form, seems to have recently showed up in my Prescott yard for the first time. This sub-species similarly sports a black head, but the ebony coloring extends to most of his dorsal and tail feathers, contrasting with his snowy lower feathers. And its indeed snow that he's escaping as his summer breeding grounds lie in the boreal forests of northern Canada and parts of Alaska.
Last week I even noticed a group of dark-eyed juncos in my Phoenix yard as they sorted through the rye grass seeds that were starting to sprout and replace my summer Bermuda grass. Some red-backed forms were there, apparently representing a contingency of birds that consider Prescott's winter - less than one hundred miles away - not balmy enough. In addition, a couple of Oregon or slate-colored individuals were tagging along; I could see their black heads through the window but not enough other details to identify the specific sub-species.
While it's always interesting to see two different races of the junco sharing my Prescott property, it seems even more fascinating to see them possibly migrating together into the warmer desert. While they might not agree on where to spend the summer, maybe they agreed my Phoenix neighborhood was the best winter home a bird could ask for. I certainly think so.
The red-backed member of this sparrow family is quite common in the pine forests of Arizona. This form is one of several sub-species, or races, of the dark-eyed junco, a bird that ranges over most of Canada and the United States. The juncos' separate breeding grounds in different corners of the continent seem to maintain the races' identifying traits, which are mostly found in coloring.
I've come to associate the red-backed sub-species with my leisurely visits to Prescott. Predominately steel-gray with his namesake dorsal patch, the sparrow is a frequent visitor to my yard, seed feeder, and birdbath at all times of year. He's relatively easy to approach and photograph like most of the year-round birds at my cabin.
In contrast, as the summer warmth gives way to autumn's cool breezes, shyer junco sub-species start visiting my Prescott property. As recently as last winter, I photographed an individual of what's known as the Oregon form pecking through various stones and grasses. Unlike the year-round resident red-backed form, this sub-species is easily scared off.
This wariness shouldn't be surprising as the winter visitor is a migratory bird, visiting northern Arizona for the season from less hospitable climates frequently situated much farther north. The Oregon form, sporting its black head along with pink bill and sides, breeds in the Pacific coastal mountains from southeast Alaska to as far south as Baja California. Since I've been paying attention to avian wildlife, I've noticed this bird regularly spends the colder months in my Prescott neighborhood.
But another subspecies, known as the slate-colored form, seems to have recently showed up in my Prescott yard for the first time. This sub-species similarly sports a black head, but the ebony coloring extends to most of his dorsal and tail feathers, contrasting with his snowy lower feathers. And its indeed snow that he's escaping as his summer breeding grounds lie in the boreal forests of northern Canada and parts of Alaska.
Last week I even noticed a group of dark-eyed juncos in my Phoenix yard as they sorted through the rye grass seeds that were starting to sprout and replace my summer Bermuda grass. Some red-backed forms were there, apparently representing a contingency of birds that consider Prescott's winter - less than one hundred miles away - not balmy enough. In addition, a couple of Oregon or slate-colored individuals were tagging along; I could see their black heads through the window but not enough other details to identify the specific sub-species.
While it's always interesting to see two different races of the junco sharing my Prescott property, it seems even more fascinating to see them possibly migrating together into the warmer desert. While they might not agree on where to spend the summer, maybe they agreed my Phoenix neighborhood was the best winter home a bird could ask for. I certainly think so.
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| Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored form, Prescott. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored form, Prescott. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, slate-colored, form. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, Oregon form, Prescott. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, Oregon form, Prescott. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, red-backed form, Prescott. |
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| Dark-eyed junco, red-backed form, Flagstaff. |
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