Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis Linnaeus       Field Guide IDs: NG-418; G-334; PE-266; PW-pl 56; AE-pl 429; AW-pl 483; AM(III)-272 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy F I: 12-13 DAYS ALTRICIAL BANK (To 20 feet) CAVITY F -M 3-5 (3-6) MONOG? F: 9-13 DAYS MF INSECTS HAWKS BREEDING: Conif and decid forest and edge, open woodland, bogs. 2 broods, occ 3 in s, 1 at higher elevation and latitude. DISPLAYS: Courting pair hop with wings drooped, tail fanned displaying white outer feathers; from low perch male droops wings, spreads and droops tail, sings softly. NEST: Usu in shallow depression with overhead protection, often against vertical surface; rarely in shrub, tree, or building; of coarse grass, moss, rootlets, forbs, bark, twigs, lined with fine materials, EGGS: White to pale bluish-white, marked with reddish-browns, often wreathed. 0.8" (19 mm). DIET: Includes few spiders; wide variety of seeds. Nestlings fed 100% insects, initially partly regurgitated. CONSERVATION: Winters s to n Mexico. Uncommon cowbird host. NOTES: Territorial conflict uncommon. Female broods nestlings. Later clutches smaller. Rapid tarsal development enables nestlings to run from nest if threatened before they can fly. Foraging flocks occ with chickadees, bushtits, nuthatches, kinglets, sparrows, in spring and fall. Roosts in conif trees, old nests, rock crevices, on ground. Winter flocks of 10-30 with definite social ranking and mutually exclusive foraging territories. Males tend to winter farther n than females. Several races, formerly regarded as species, now combined in Dark-eyed Junco: Slate-colored, Oregon, White-winged, Gray-headed, and Guadalupe Junco. STANFORD. NOTES: Uncommon and local summer resident, fairly common and more widespread during migration and in winter. Breeding birds on main campus nest almost exclusively in dense mats of ivy and other vines planted around buildings and courtyards, although the choice of nesting cover may be more diverse in woodland and scrub habitats near the Dish and in the faculty housing area. From fall through spring, flocks (sometimes fairly large in the Arboretum) occur virtually throughout campus. ESSAYS: Eye Color; Walking vs. Hopping; Birds and the Law; Dominance Hierarchies; Taxonomy and Nomenclature REFERENCES: Balph, 1979; Ketterson and Nolan, 1982; Smith and Andersen, 1982.