The Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of junco. Adult Dark-eyed Juncos are generally grey on top with a white belly. There are several sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco, each with a different appearance. The slate-colored subspecies is shown here, but in total we have six different subspecies in the cute Birdorable style.
Juvenile Juncos often have pale streaks and may even be mistaken for a Vesper Sparrow until they acquire adult plumage at 2 to 3 months.
The breeding habitat of these birds is coniferous or mixed forest areas throughout North America. Juncos usually nest in a cup shaped depression on the ground, well hidden by vegetation or other material, although the Junco is sometimes found in the lower branches of a shrub or tree. The nests of these birds have an outer diameter of about 10cm and are lined with fine grasses and hair.
The Dark-eyed Junco is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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