It is fall almost....in the East and it is probably only a matter of days or a couple of weeks at the most that the Juncos will be here with their migrating buddies, the White Throated Sparrows. As the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammi head up the Eastern Seaboard, it is bringing drenching rain which will hopefully enhance the fall color.
If you are unsure of what the White Throated Sparrow looks like, they are a little more plump than Song or other sparrows and have rather pronounced white stripes behind their eyes (on the supercillium) and under their chin. The 1st winter sparrows, and the adults have yellow lores (just in front of the eyes at the top of the beak) that are easy to spot to tell them from other sparrows.
Another great way to identify them is by their thin, weak, almost plaintive cry that sounds as if they are losing their voice or losing a battle of wills! The written vocalization of their song is described by Sibley as: "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody", although I like to think it sounds more like: "I'm trying to sing to you, sing to you, sing to you" or "Oy vay is meah, vay is meah, vay is meah". Ok, so I doubt their speaking Yiddish, but to me they sound like a bunch of ladies sitting around complaining about aches and pains. Really, it is more like this "sue, sue, sue wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee". So they're calling pigs.
In looking for them, you'll find them on the ground shuffling around kicking up debris looking for food, and under your feeder.
Our friends the Dark-eyed Junco, also known as "snowbirds" have four varieties: the Slate-colored, White-winged, Oregon and Pink-sided. The first variety is the most common in winter and is found all over the country with the exception of Southern CA and AZ. The Oregon is found in part of the East and Central in the winter and most of the year in the Pacific NW. Pink-sided is mostly found in a small portion of the southwest, including the four square area. The White-winged have the sparsest distribution in CO and NM. These guys, like their name implies, have dark eyes and usually dark feathers right around them. I call them Cleopatra eyes because they appear to have khol eyeliner on! They are also found on the ground and sometimes at feeders and look lovely against a snowy background. Interestingly, there is a very rare hybrid between the aforementioned sparrow and the Junco! I would love to see one of these guys!
Their call is a high hard "stip". And they make a buzzy squeak when taking flight. Their voices are not conducive to written vocalizations, you'll just have to listen yourself to figure them out!
Check in a few days for more information on migrating birdies, but keep your eyes and ears peeled for these guys!
