Slate-coloured Junco(Junco hyemalis) - local seasonal appearance

Based on 30 observations in Seymour township, Northumberland county, southeast Ontario, 1999-2003.

The slate-coloured (alias dark-eyed) junco often appears in small flocks, especially in October and through the early winter season, 23 September to 20 January. The birds are also glimpsed on northward migration, 26 March (2003) to 11 May, and not at all during the summer months, consistent with nesting in woodlands further north from the Trent valley.

At Presqu'ile provincial park, roughly 40 km to the south, the junco is a common spring migrant (late March to mid-May) and abundant fall migrant (mid- September to early November). There are three summer records, and the bird is also an uncommon winter resident (LaForest, 1993, pp.365-365). In Peterborough county, to the northwest, the junco is a common migrant which also overwinters, and some stay in the summer, mostly in the north of the county (Sadler, 1983, p.153). The presence of "visiting" birds makes it hard to determine migration times, but suggested ranges are 06 March to 16 May in spring, and 16 August to 20 October in the fall.


slate-coloured junco [110 kb]

References

LaFOREST,SM (1993) Birds of Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Friends of Presqu'ile Park / Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 436pp.

SADLER,D (1983) Our Heritage of Birds: Peterborough County in the Kawarthas. Peterborough Field Naturalists / Orchid Press, Peterborough, ON, 192pp.


Graham Wilson, posted 04 August 2003, updated 02 January 2004

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