| Like people, most birds that occupy extensive ranges gradually evolve, both physically and physiologically to meet the variety of conditions necessary to survive within their specific region. One needs only to look at the different regions of the earth for the great variations among people to become apparent.
The same species of bird is generally larger in the north and produces more young than its southern counterpart. They may also be somewhat different in color. Somewhere in the center of the range lie the intergrades. Taxonomists are not always in agreement on where to draw the line in sub-specific (racial) separation and sometimes even specific separation. Even then, they often later change their minds.
The junco is a classic example. I used to spend a great deal of time watching these 'snowbirds' because every so often a western species, the Oregon junco, would show up with the common slate-colored junco. Then there were the pink-sided varieties, which were of unclear status, all of which made junco watching that much more exciting. But all that was changed recently and we are advised that all juncos are really one species: the dark-eyed junco.
Juncos are common here in winter and are frequent visitors at local feeding stations. They are ground feeders and like to scratch for their food. Cracked corn is all that is required to keep them coming.
Length 5 1/2 - 6 3/4 Inches
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