This
bird appears to be a brown adult female of the "Slate-colored"
population of Dark-eyed Juncos (see Sibley pp 500-502). John
Winkler, Jr. took many photos on January 19, some of which
are shown here so that others may
study
the
bird. Please your thoughts on it, and let us know whether we can
publish your comments here.
See
below for comments from people who have viewed these photos.
Find
photo # 37 52 53 54 55 56 58 59 60 61 73 74 82 84 85 86 87
74
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73
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87
|
53
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55
 |
56
|
58
|
82 
|
86
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84
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61  |
37
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59
 |
85
 |
54
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52
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60
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Find
photo # 37 52 53 54 55 56 58 59 60 61 73 74 82 84 85 86 87
Comments
1/18/04 Barbara Butler
Ruth Greenwood has a very unusual junco at her feeder. It
looks like a
pale version of Sibley's "Brown adult", but with white
tail, primaries
and secondaries.
I sat in my car in her driveway for about 20 minutes until
it showed up.
It was quite close. But having to clear the windshield of snow
periodically didn't help. There are feeders between the house and the
driveway. Ruth had put some seed right in the driveway and that's where
the bird showed up, with other normal juncos.
1/19/04 Carena Pooth (while working on
the intial set of photos from John--#54, 60, 73, 75, 76, 82, 84, and 85)
Interesting bird. So far the primaries and secondaries being white doesn't
really show on any of the photos. What strikes me about this bird is
the pale lores,
which none of the Sibley birds show.
1/19/04 Barbara Butler
Actually, the tail, primaries and secondaries weren't pristine white. There
was a slight wash of the brown color from the rest of the bird....yet they
were strikingly lighter than the rest of the bird. More contrast than
is shown in the one photo I've seen so far (#82 above).
1/21/04 Herb Thompson (after
viewing photos #54, 60, 73, 75, 76, 82, 84, and 85--the others
were not yet shown)
This bird differs considerably from Sibley’s “brown
adult female” variation of the Slate-colored form, most
notably in the color of its wings and tail (which are almost
white on this bird) and no hint of a face mask. All 5
sub-species typically have dark (black, gray, or gray/brown)
primaries
and center tail feathers, while the outer tail feathers are
white. All forms have some type of a face mask. (Those
plumages with the darkest hoods may conceal the mask by most
of the
head appearing black.)
In my opinion the photos show
an aberrant plumage resulting from a pigment deficiency; i.e.
a lack of
melanin or black pigment. If one were to start with the Sibley “brown adult
female” Slate-colored
or Rising’s “first winter female” (48f) and
then imagine these pictures printed when the printer had run
out of black ink, the resulting picture would show a brown (tan)
wash over the bird’s head, back, breast, flanks, and rump,
as seen in these photos. However, where one would expect black
plumage (primaries and center tail feathers) the result would
be almost white, just as in the photos.
This is a very interesting, strange plumage but, in my opinion,
an aberration rather than a rare race or form. Thank you
to Ruth Greenwood for discovering and reporting this bird and
to John
Winkler, Jr. for photographing it and sharing his pictures with
us.
1/27/04 Willie D'Anna
A neat looking bird. I am no expert on odd plumages but this junco looks
like a dilute-plumaged bird (same plumage as normal but washed out, much
paler), perhaps with a bit of albinism in the wings and tail, as well.
References Cited
Rising, James D. and David D. Beadle 1996 The Sparrows of
the United States and Canada; Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Co.
Sibley, David A. 2000 The Sibley Guide to Birds; Alfred A. Knopf
