Christian:
Wow. Could you provide a photo of a White-winged Junco as dark as or
darker than a Slate-colored Junco?
I guess it depends on if said Slate-colored is a pale one, but I have
never seen anything approaching slate as you described.
When I was banding juncos in Bluebell Canyon decades ago, I photographed
more than one Slate-colored Junco (in every respect) showing thin, but
distinct wingbars. Such "white-winged juncos" are well represented in
the literature on online photos. These birds never have the 3-4 white
rectrices, nor, if I recall from my photos, the pinkish or bicolored
bill typical of a Slate-colored. I only remember White-winged Junco
males being unicolor lighter gray. A photo would be really nice to see.
For a look back here is an article I wrote about two hybrid juncos I
banded in Boulder. One hybrid that I called 'Rusty" is in color on the pdf.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v11n04/p0205-p0206.pdf
Bruce Webb (former Boulder birder visiting Colorado Springs this week
and enjoying lots of Juncos.)
Granite Bay, CA
On 3/21/2011 11:22 AM, Christian Nunes wrote:
Jeff,
Your junco is pretty clearly a White-winged.
There are a few misconceptions about White-winged Juncos that are
exacerbated by modern field guides. One is that they should have dark
lores. The other is the color of the head. White-winged Juncos can
have contrasting dark lores, or they can lack it. White-winged Juncos
can have a head that is as dark as a Slate-colored, or as light as a
Pink-sided. These details are misinterpreted by field guides. The
monograph on the species (Miller 1941) describes White-winged Junco as
lacking dark lores. But the Sibley guide points this out as a useful
field mark. They are both right, to some extent, since this feature is
simply variable. The head color varies from very pale (Pink-sided
gray) to very dark (equal to or darker than Slate-colored). This is a
detail that Miller noted, but modern field guides fail to encompass.
A Junco with thick white wing-bars, a large, horn-colored bill, and
that is gray overall can confidently be called a White-winged here in
CO where they are common. The small size is interesting, and in one
photo it is quite apparent with the bird standing next to a
Gray-headed. Two of the tertials are edged with brown, and the third
with gray. It's probably a hatch-year bird. They molt a variable
number of tertials in the fall (often 0, often 1, less often 2-3). A
bird with retained juvenile tertials at this time of year can
confidently be aged, while those with completely replaced gray
tertials cannot.
I've recently uploaded a bunch of junco photos with a couple confusing
hatch-year White-wingeds which can be seen at the end of this set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/sets/72157609842959747/with/5537208275/
Christian Nunes
[email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [cobirds] Slate-colored Junco with broad white wing bars -
Teller Co
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:48:48 -0600
Many juncos moving through Teller County today; slate-colored, Oregon,
pink-sided, gray-headed. And several singing.
But one caught my eye – a small slate-colored with broad white wing
bars on primary and secondary coverts.
Bird is smallish – like other slate-coloreds there; definitely smaller
than gray-headed and pink-sided – white-winged should be noticeably
larger. Lacking contrasting lores that /aikenii/ (white-winged) would
have; and throat is not paler as you would expect in /aikenii/. Didn’t
get a good read on amount of white in tail feathers. Overall, the bird
was darker (slate-colored) that you would expect for white-winged; but
I don’t think the photos capture the true tone correctly and show it a
bit lighter than it looked with naked eyes and binos.
Got fair enough pics through the dirty window with sun on it.
http://www.sendpix.com/albums/11032116/16411000000000754107cec347bed66d00c670cb7366/
Certainly welcome any comments if others feel that this might be an
/aikenii/.
*Jeff J Jones*
([email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>)
Teller County - 8500' - Montane Woodlands
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'Have scope - Will travel'
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