Dark-eyed Junco (aka. Oregon Junco)
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, Carmel-by-the-sea, California, USA
February 2022
Member of the American Sparrow Family
§A Quarrel of Sparrows§
~True Bird Fact~ Truly baffling that I haven't blogged this guy yet since I see him everywhere. Something between never bothering to blog him because I think I already have and never bothering to take a picture because I think I don't need one. Still, one of our cutest little guys. This bird is subject to a debate that is baffling to the amateur bird enjoyer like myself. See, this bird is described everywhere as having an 'extremely variable' appearance. What does this mean? It means that depending on the 'sub-species' the bird looks entirely different.
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| Map illustration by Borja Mila from the National Museum of Natural Science in Madrid |
Take a look at this. Does this look like the same bird to you? Now keep in mind that I've never known ornithologists to not tell me that two almost identical (please see all seagulls for example) birds were actually different, and we have a real mystery on our hands. This article sort of explains it- scientists believe that this bird is involved in very rapid speciation. That is, it's turning into lots of different birds, right before our eyes (at least compared to the scale of time these things usually happen according to). I have to assume it's only a matter of time before they spin this bad boy off into like 14 different birds, half of which are nearly identical. Until then, I'll enjoy my local Dark-eyed Juncos without having to worry too much.
Two left feet
Never uses a public restroom
Always picks a little piece of tall grass and caries it with her when she goes walking
Swears by grinding her own spices over using the pre-ground kind
