Junco by Val Lee
It’s beginning to look a lot like winter here in Idaho. We have already had a good amount of snow for our area and I have shoveled a couple of times. I love what the Bible reveals regarding snow. God proclaims in Job 28:22 that snow is stored in His treasure house. When God commands the snow to “Fall on the earth,” it does; Job 37:5-6. God performs countless glorious things that we cannot comprehend.
I shot this snowy golden sunrise close to home
It was in our snowy yard that I shot the Dark-eyed Junco photos. They add a nice contrast to the White-crowned Sparrows that stand taller and appear statelier than the nondescript English Sparrows. All three species are of the Sparrow family. All frolic together in our yard providing sweet and innocent amusement for me.
Junco by Val Lee
Dark-eyed (black-eyed actually) Juncos forage on the ground for their sustenance. Their diet consists mostly of insects, seeds, and weeds. I attempt to keep my avis’ fed when the glistening snow blankets the earth though I know God takes care of the birds as revealed in Scripture. I just like to keep them around my house. I don’t think I am being covetous. Last year we only had one or two Dark-eyed Juncos, this year we have many. Word must be out that I feed birds in this yard. I simply throw small seed out my door and it doesn’t take long for them to swarm out of our blue spruce. I do have bird feeders too, mind you. However, I remember the old days when people simply threw out breadcrumbs to make use of old bread.
The Dark-eyed Junco winters here in Idaho, one of many places. It does not reside here in the summer but prefers the far north. It is during the chilly duration that I capture their mugs on the camera card.
There are additional species of Juncos besides the dark-eyed (AKA the Oregon and black-hooded—most apropos title), which include the gray-headed, slate-colored, white-winged, pink-sided, and red-backed.
The Dark-eyed Junco breeds from Alaska, across Canada, and south to the mountains of Georgia and Mexico. It is a vagrant in Iceland, the British Isles, continental Europe, and east Siberia. Preferred habitats include openings and edges of coniferous, mixed woods, fields, roadsides, parks, and suburban gardens.
Dark-eyed Juncos are monogamous—staying faithful to their selected partner for life for exampled design. Males arrive on breeding grounds in early spring, well in advance of the nesting season. Dating ensues and pairs are formed by mid-April. A suitor will claim his territory by serenading from the top of the tallest tree. When a cute chick enters his territory, he will pursue her impressively—spreading his tail like a fan and strutting around her uttering “chips” and songs. The male may drop his tail to the ground and uplift it at a 45-degree angle—my, my, that should certainly impress. Once a pair is formed, the male will follow his gal about. They are seldom more than 50 feet away from one another, maintaining a very strong bond.
Together they build a cup-shaped nest of grasses, moss, and twigs, lined with rootlets. It is built on the ground near tall vegetation. They rear two broods per season and each brood consists of three to five pale bluish eggs with dark reddish blotches. The female solely incubates the eggs, which hatch between ten and fifteen days. Both parents nourish the young until they depart the nest—two to three weeks later. Parents defend their territory until the end of nesting and breeding season.
You can read about the One who formed the cute little Junco and who marvelously designed you at this link: Letter to the Bird Enthusiast!
*Info gathered from various web sources
The Dark-eyed Junco is in the Emberizidae Family (Buntings, New World Sparrows and Allies) of the Passeriformes Order.
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Val Lee
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