Yellow-eyed Junco
Yellow-eyed Junco
Junco phaeonotus
At a Glance
Mountain forests near the Mexican border are home to this distinctive junco. Unlike its dark-eyed relatives to the north, it moves over the ground with an odd shuffling walk; it also has a much more musical and varied song. Its bright yellow or yellow-orange eye gives it an almost fierce look, all out of proportion to the small size of the bird.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
New World Sparrows, Perching Birds
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Region
Southwest
Behavior
Direct Flight, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
4.300.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Mostly sedentary, but flocks may move to slightly lower elevations in the mountains in winter. A very rare visitor to lowland valleys.
Description
5 1/2-6 1/2" (14-17 cm). Bright orange-yellow eye gives "fierce" look. Gray head, pale throat, reddish on back and wings, two-toned bill. Juvenile streaked, and has dark eyes at first.
Size
About the size of a Robin, About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Brown, Gray, Red, White, Yellow
Wing Shape
Broad
Tail Shape
Notched, Rounded, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
Song is more highly patterned than that of the Dark-eyed Junco. One representation is chip-chip, seedle-seedle, chee-chee-chee, although it is variable.
Call Pattern
Flat, Undulating
Call Type
Chirp/Chip, Trill, Whistle
Habitat
Conifer forests, pine-oak woods. A bird of mountain forests throughout its range. In our area, breeds at middle and upper elevations of mountains near Mexican border, mostly in forests of pine and Douglas-fir, but also down into pine-oak woods. Slight downhill movement in winter may bring a few into areas of scrub oak and pinyon-juniper woods.
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Behavior
Eggs
3-4, sometimes 5. Pale gray or bluish white, spotted with reddish brown. Incubation is by female only, about 15 days.
Young
Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 10 days after hatching, cannot fly well for about another week. 2 or 3 broods per year.
Feeding Behavior
Does most of its foraging on the ground. Will scratch in the soil or leaf-litter to find food, making a little forward jump and then scratching back with both feet at once. Also does some foraging up in shrubs and sometimes in trees. Will hunt for food around picnic areas and campgrounds in the mountains.
Diet
Mostly seeds and insects. Diet is not known in detail; apparently feeds on insects more in summer than in winter. May eat mostly seeds, including those of weeds and grasses. Also known to eat some flowers, buds, and berries.
Nesting
Male sings to defend nesting territory, often from a perch high in a tree. Males also may be very aggressive in territorial defense, actively fighting with intruders of their own kind. In courtship, male may strut about near female with his tail spread widely, while giving a soft song. Nest site is usually on the ground, sometimes in a shrub or low tree but rarely more than a few feet high. Nests on ground are often placed in a slight depression and hidden under something such as a log, rock, base of a shrub, or overhanging clump of grass. Nest (built by female, sometimes with help from male) is shallow cup of grass, lined with fine grass and sometimes animal hair.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Numbers seem stable in its limited U.S. range.
Climate Threats Facing the Yellow-eyed Junco
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.