A Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) that looks as if it is posing for an artist. About to become a museum piece on canvas.
This Junco, the one that I am used to seeing, is one of 14 or 15 subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco. Each having the same basic size and shape but colors that vary. The subspecies include this slate colored group, a white winged group, a brown backed group, a pink sided group, a gray headed group, and a red backed group.
The subspecies of this slate colored group has the widest distribution, including nearly all parts of the North American continent.
I grew up calling this junco, a Slate Colored Junco. Now they are all lumped together and they’re all Dark-eyed Juncos.
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