Juncos are part of the sparrow family.
Dark-eyed juncos reappear in many parts of the Lower 48 just as winter comes alive each year. They leave their breeding grounds in the North Woods and the western mountains to descend on backyard feeding stations across much of the U.S. Many people, like Birds & Blooms reader Jennifer Hardison from Athens, Tennessee, have a nickname for juncos. “We call them snowbirds because we only see them after a snowfall,” she says. To attract a whole flock of these backyard favorites to your own space, it takes a couple of feeders and the right plants to keep them full and coming back for more.
Serve the Right Stuff
In winter, juncos feast on seeds of weeds and grasses that are left standing in your landscape or in fields, parks and open woodlands. Seeds from common plants such as chickweed, buckwheat, lamb’s-quarters and sorrel make up 75 percent of their year-round diet. But juncos also supplement with feeder foods. These snowbirds prefer to forage on the ground for millet, sunflower hearts or cracked corn that has fallen from your feeders. They may occasionally steal a seed from a platform or tray feeder, or snatch a juicy berry from a fruit-producing shrub.
Photo by Elisabeth Belokas There are more than a dozen types of dark-eyed juncos, like this one.
East vs. West
Depending on where you live, your juncos may look different. Those found in the eastern half of the U.S. are charcoal gray on top with white bellies and known as slate-colored types. The most common variety in the west is called the Oregon junco. Male Oregons sport a solid black or slaty hood, chestnut-colored back, rusty sides and a white belly. Other juncos, like white-winged and gray-headed, are less common with limited ranges. Where junco ranges overlap, though, you may find several types in one winter flock. And when you do, look for their signature detail—a pretty pink bill.
BONUS BACKYARD TIP
Juncos are part of the sparrow family. Look for these dark-eyed beauties in flocks with other sparrows and bluebirds.
Junco Tales from Readers
“While I was visiting Clingmans Dome in the Smoky Mountains, this friendly dark-eyed junco let me get closer for a picture. This is one of my favorite snapshots from the entire trip.” — Elisabeth Belokas, Downers Grove, Illinois
“On New Year’s Day I found some time to go outside and watch birds. As I sat on the porch, a few of them flew right up to the feeders hanging from the eave. This junco sat on a nearby branch for a while and let me snap away!” — Ra Del Hinckley, Independence, Missouri
Mary Pelzer says
I have a red tailed Hawk problem here in
Colorado.Five days ago, one caught a
Sparrow and ate it in my back yard. Juncos, Sparrows and other birds have not been in the yard since. Is there something I can do to keep the Hawks away?
carol shaffer says
we have a lot of hawks here too. they sit and watch for the birds in my garden. the owls hoot at night close by too. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. When the predators find something to eat, they will be there all the time. We have the bears too, they ate my baby bluebirds, so we put an electric fence around them. crazy I know. but it did the trick. but those pesky hawks, I don’t know.
Patricia Sowles-Adair says
Try not feeding your birds for about 2 weeks. They will seek food elsewhere and the hawk may change his hunting area if the birds aren’t around. Once you no longer see or hear him try resuming your feeding. The birds will come back to eat, it may take a few days but not long.
Jean says
Hawks may be killed if you get a special permit issued through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Meredith Hunter says
Hawks put a whole new meaning to “feeding stations” don’t they? I had a hawk take a Blue Jay from my feeding area once. I was upset by it at first but then I realized that they need to eat and feed their families as well.
Go ahead and keep putting the feed/seed out for your smaller birds. The hawk will move on and the little ones will come back! If you can, move your feeders to where the birds will have more cover to get to if the hawk tries to make a quick lunch again.
In the meantime, get some great pictures of the hawk!
Leyla K. says
Juncos here in New Mexico readily eat Thistle/Niger seed and I leave ground trays out for them sprinkled with Thistle seed. Its an oily seed that helps keep them warm in the winter!
Becky Johnson says
Here on the coast of Maine, the juncos show up right BEFORE a snow storm…a warning of what is to come!
Pat Moore says
Here too, Becky. Southeastern Michigan.
Lauralee says
My mama always called them Snowbirds because of their forecasting ability 🙂
Paul R. Heyden Sr. says
I read that Juncos have a specialized tool for digging. It is a part of their foot at the rear. I’ve watched them on snow digging for sees under the snow.
Mary Baeb says
When I hung my suet feeder it was close to the railing on my deck and the juncos could reach it by standing on the deck. I had never seen a junco eat suet before.
Nancy Gleason says
I’m in the greater Milwaukee area and have had juncos in the yard since late October! They love our feeders full of safflower and black oil sunflower seeds.
Pat Moore says
That’s good to know, Nancy, because I don’t want to go back to buying mixes again only to have the millet end up staying in the feeders and on the grouond. Hope my Juncos discover the sun- and saff- seeds too.
carol shaffer says
i live in southwestern PA. we have Junco’s all year long here. I have a feeding station for all birds, they come all year. blue jays, junco’s, cardinals, chickadee, all woodpeckers, starlings, goldfinch, sparrows, purple finch. most of them stay here all year, the jays seem to leave for awhile, but the rest are here. I love them all. my junco’s eat the sunflower seed we put out for the birds, they eat on the ground and in the trees.
P Garfield says
I didn’t think that the little Junco birds had any interest in the bird feeder filled with tasty sunflower seeds so I would scatter a handful or so on the patio brickwork. They seemed to like that. Last week though one of the males actually discovered the feeder. Now he can compete with the dozen or so other little birds that convene up high. Progress?
Beth says
Where have all the blackcapped chickadees gone? Last winter we had tons of them and this year nothing! Everything else is the same and we have lots of juncos and other birds. We live on Long Island (NY)
Pat Moore says
Same here, Beth, SouthEast Michigan.
Lauralee says
Here in NorthWest Indiana too!
Rose says
Some years ago, I was told by the rangers in the Smokies that the juncos/snowbirds never leave the area. They just migrate up and down the mountains depending on the season. So down in winter, and up in summer. Pretty smart, I thought.
Ellen M Briggs says
The blackcapped chickadees, cardinals, titmouse, and juncos/snowbirds love it here at my feeder I keep filled with safflower seed. I live in southern MD. In the summer, there are also all kinds of colored finches that show up, and the American goldfinch loved it here when my zinnia garden was blooming this year.
Pat Moore says
My safflower is a big hit here in Southeast Michigan too, Ellen. Squirrels don’t like it so they go next door.
Deb says
My husband and I saw this bird come to our feeder and was not sure what it was. I told my husband to go online to Birds and Blooms and they will know. Sure enough when we open the site the first picture we see is the bird we questioned……a Junco. Such a pretty bird. There are two who come to the feeder a couple times a day.
Barbara says
I live in upstate New York. For the past 9 years I have had a Junco living in my garage during the winter. He flies in around 3:00 every afternoon and out the next morning. Very special bird !!