Slate-gray Junco 170222 -01

(Junco hyemalis hyemalis) Munson Meadows, Kelowna, BC. soty17

From Wikipedia: More than most of us will ever want to know....

 

Subspecies

Either 14 or 15 subspecies are recognized These subspecies are grouped in two or three large or polytypic groups and three or four small or monotypic ones, all depending on the authority. These groups were formerly considered separate species, but they interbreed extensively in areas of contact. Birders trying to identify subspecies are advised to consult detailed identification references.

 

Slate-colored group

Slate-colored dark-eyed junco (J. h. hyemalis)

Slate-colored dark-eyed junco (J. h. hyemalis) - Alaska, across Canada from Newfoundland & Labrador to British Columbia, northeast U.S. from Massachusetts to Minnesota, northwest Mexico from Baja California to Chihuahua, & Gulf Coast states

Carolina dark-eyed junco (J. h. carolinensis) - Appalachian Mountains from northwest West Virgina & western Maryland south to northern Georgia

Cassiar dark-eyed junco (J. h. cismontanus; possibly a slate-colored dark-eyed junco (J. h. hyemalis) x Oregon dark-eyed junco (J. h. oreganus) hybrid - Yukon, British Columbia, & Alberta south through Great Plains down toward north-central Mexico

These two or three subspecies have dark slate-gray heads, breasts and upperparts. Females are brownish-gray, sometimes with reddish-brown flanks.[10] They breed in the North American boreal forests from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to the Appalachian Mountains, wintering throughout most of the United States. They are relatively common across their range.

 

White-winged group

white-winged dark-eyed junco (J. h. aikeni)

This subspecies has a medium-gray head, breast, and upperparts with white wing bars. Females are washed brownish. It has more white in the tail than the other 14 subspecies. It is a common endemic breeder in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana, and winters south to northeastern New Mexico.

 

Oregon or brown-backed group

Oregon/brown-backed group dark-eyed junco (may be any one of eight subspecies )

• Montana dark-eyed junco (J. h. montanus) - Interior British Columbia, Alberta, eastern Washington, northeast Oregon, Idaho, Montana, & Wyoming

• Nevada dark-eyed junco (J. h. mutabilis) - Great Basin

• Oregon dark-eyed junco (J. h. oreganus) - Coastal southeast Alaska to central British Columbia

• Point Pinos dark-eyed junco (J. h. pinosus) - Coastal California (Santa Barbara to Del Norte County)

• Laguna Hanson dark-eyed junco (J. h. pontilis) - Mountains of northern Baja California (Sierra Juarez)

• Shufeldt's dark-eyed junco (J. h. shufeldti) - West slopes of coastal mountains from western Oregon to southwest British Columbia

• Thurber's dark-eyed junco (J. h. thurberi) - Interior California (San Bernardino to Modoc County)

• Townsend's dark-eyed junco (J. h. townsendi) - Mountains of northern Baja California (San Pedro Martir)

 

These eight subspecies have blackish-gray heads and breasts with brown backs and wings and reddish flanks, tending toward duller and paler plumage in the inland and southern parts of its range.

Oregon dark-eyed juncos are also less commonly known as brown-backed dark-eyed juncos. This is the most common subspecies group in the West, breeding in the Pacific Coast Ranges from southeastern Alaska to extreme northern Baja California and wintering to the Great Plains and northern Sonora. An unresolved debate exists as to whether this large and distinct subspecies group is actually a separate species with eight (or nine, see below) subspecies of its own.[citation needed]

 

Pink-sided dark-eyed junco (J. h. mearnsi)

Pink-sided group

pink-sided dark-eyed junco (J. h. mearnsi)

Sometimes considered a ninth subspecies in the Oregon/brown-backed group, this subspecies has a lighter gray head and breast than the eight Oregon/brown-backed dark-eyed juncos, with contrasting dark lores. The back and wings are brown. It has a pinkish-cinnamon color that is richer and covers more of the flanks and breast than in the eight Oregon/brown-backed dark-eyed juncos. It breeds in the northern Rocky Mountains from southern Alberta to eastern Idaho and western Wyoming and winters in central Idaho and nearby Montana and from southwestern South Dakota, southern Wyoming, and northern Utah to northern Sonora and Chihuahua.

 

Gray-headed dark-eyed junco (J. h. caniceps)

Gray-headed group

gray-headed dark-eyed junco (J. h. caniceps)

This subspecies is essentially rather light gray on top with a rusty back. It breeds in the southern Rocky Mountains from Colorado to central Arizona and New Mexico, and winters into northern Mexico.

 

Red-backed group

red-backed dark-eyed junco (J. h. dorsalis)

Sometimes included with the gray-headed dark-eyed junco proper as part of the gray-headed group, this subspecies differs from it in having a more silvery bill[11] with a dark-colored upper mandible and a light-colored lower mandible, a variable amount of rust on the wings, and pale underparts. This makes it similar to the yellow-eyed junco (Junco phaeonotus), except for the dark eyes. It is found in the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. It does not overlap with the yellow-eyed junco in its breeding range.

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