Junco Explained

A junco, genus Junco, is a small North American bird in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. Junco systematics are still confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species. Despite having a name that appears to derive from the Spanish term for the plant genus Juncus (rushes), these birds are seldom found among rush plants, which prefer wet ground, while juncos prefer dry soil.

Their breeding habitat is coniferous or mixed forest areas throughout North America, ranging from subarctic taiga to high-altitude mountain forests in Mexico and Central America south to Panama. Northern birds usually migrate farther south; southern populations are permanent residents or altitudinal migrants, moving only a short distance downslope to avoid severe winter weather in the mountains.

These birds forage on the ground. In winter, they often forage in flocks. They eat mainly insects and seeds. They usually nest in a well-hidden location on the ground or low in a shrub or tree.

Taxonomy

The genus Junco was introduced in 1831 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler for a single species, the yellow-eyed junco.^[1] The yellow-eyed junco is therefore now the type species.^[2] The genus name is from Latin Latin: iuncus meaning 'rush'.^[3]

The genus contains five species:^[4]

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Subspecies	Distribution
		Junco	gray-headed dark-eyed junco (J. h. caniceps) – sometimes considered either a separate species (J. caniceps) or a separate species with two subspecies (also see fourth line below). in Latin means gray-headed. Oregon dark-eyed juncos, J. h. oreganus subspecies group – sometimes considered a separate species (J. oreganus) with either eight or nine subspecies (also see third line below) pink-sided dark-eyed junco (J. h. mearnsi) – sometimes included within the J. h. oreganus subspecies group red-backed dark-eyed junco (J. h. dorsalis) – sometimes included within the J. h. caniceps subspecies group, or sometimes considered either a separate species (J. dorsalis) or a separate species (J. caniceps) with two subspecies (also see first line above) slate-colored dark-eyed juncos, J. h. hyemalis subspecies group — sometimes considered a separate species with either two or three subspecies (one subspecies in this group, J. h. cismontanus, is possibly a hybrid between another subspecies in this group (J. h. hyemalis) and a subspecies in the oreganus subspecies group (J. h. oreganus)) white-winged dark-eyed junco (J. h. aikeni) – sometimes considered a separate species	much of temperate North America
		Junco insularis		once the entirety of Guadalupe Island, now restricted to the northern part
		Junco phaeonotus	Arizona yellow-eyed junco (J. p. palliatus) Mexican yellow-eyed junco (J. p. phaeonotus) Chiapas yellow-eyed junco (J. p. fulvescens) Guatemalan yellow-eyed junco (J. p. alticola)	from the southwestern United States south to Mexico and western Guatemala
		Junco bairdi		the Sierra de la Laguna of the southern Baja California peninsula in Baja California Sur, Mexico
	volcano junco	Junco vulcani		Costa Rica and western Panama

Notes and References

1. Wagler . Johann Georg . Johann Georg Wagler . 1831 . Einige Mittheilungen über Thiere Mexicos . Isis von Oken . 1831 . Col 510–535 [526]. German, Latin .
2. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1970 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 13 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 62 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 212 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . January 2022 . New World Sparrows, Bush Tanagers . IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 4 February 2022.