Featured image credit: “Finally Got A Shot Of The Elusive Dark Eyed Junco!” by DaPuglet is licensed under CC BY 2.0
When I first moved into my house, I decided I would plant a huge flower meadow myself. I spent hours spreading (expensive!) seed, and raking it lightly into the soil, covering with a light layer of straw. That was mid-late fall. A few weeks later, I noticed a huge flock of lovely little Juncos had descended upon my meadow. There must have been 50 or more. Well, they porked up for the winter on all of my expensive seed!! Not a single flower came up. Oh, those Juncos. How I love you, and yet…
My property must be on their map now, because every year they come back to hang out here for the winter. I don’t mind (anymore), and it’s really fun to see them hopping around in the morning looking for seeds and other goodies. I did end up having a native plant meadow put in (professionally, with seeds bored into the soil) and now the Juncos love to land on the tall bluestem and other grasses and bounce around. They’ll land on the top of the seed head and it will arch over toward the ground and bounce a little bit like a trampoline.
I also love their dark feathers and white underbelly – it looks like they’re wearing a tuxedo. They get so puffy in the winter, they become the cutest little things.
So now I look forward to them every year, and I just have to be mindful of when and where I put down seed…
To hear songs, learn identification information, migratory patterns, and some fun facts, check out the Dark-eyed Junco page offered by one of my favorite resources: the Cornell Lab of Ornithology »
