Thursday, November 25, 2010

Junco hyemalis oreganus: Oregon Junco


My favorite of the winter birds, doodled from memory... as you should be able to tell because Oregon Juncos tend to be ground feeding birds, so not likely to be seen from this angle. There are other things wrong with this doodle, but you get the dark hood and lighter beak, which are two distinguishing features of the Oregon Junco.

When it gets colder than cold (as it has been lately), I throw black oil sunflower seed out the back door to the porch for the juncos. The sparrows and house finches duke it out at the feeder, but the juncos forage on the ground so I like to level the playing field just a little bit for them.