Hi everyone, Now that I am retired, I’ve been taking some time to document the breeding Dark-eyed Juncos in my neighborhood here in Johnson City, and I’m amazed at how they have transitioned into a common "backyard" summer breeder. For context, I have had nesting Juncos on my property for years, which I’ve always attributed to my dense spruce/fir cover and year-round feeding. However, I’ve recently been mapping singing males in the surrounding neighborhood, and the habitat selection is fascinating: - Observation 1: A male singing from the top of a utility pole in an area with very few conifers or dense brush.
- Observation 2: A male in better habitat (adjacent to woods) singing from the top of a basketball backboard. - Observation 3: A male singing from a rooftop surrounded by small blue spruce/arborvitae, again in a yard with limited cover. By contrast, I walked a steep, north-facing hillside across from my house this morning—a mature northern hardwood forest with hemlocks, red pine, and Norway spruce—and I recorded zero Juncos. They seem to show a strong preference for the south-facing suburban yards, which stands in stark contrast to my memories from 40+ years ago, when finding a summer Junco required trekking into deep, shaded ravines. For a species so strongly associated with boreal breeding and cold-adapted affinities, this shift seems quite significant. I am reminded of the well-documented adaptation of the Oregon subspecies of the Dark-Eyed Junco in Southern California. Are we seeing a similar pathway for hyemalis here in the East? Has anyone else noticed this trend in their local areas? I would be very interested to hear if others are seeing this shift toward suburban nesting or if there are any current studies investigating this behavioral plasticity. Best, Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: [email protected] Archives: The Mail Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org. --
