Snow Bird

 

Seems like it was only yesterday that these birds were passing thru on their way to their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Canada and as far as the southern fringes of the arctic circle.  Now they're hanging around the feeders and scratching in the snow.  Good-sized flocks of them too.  

The dark-eyed Junco – Junco hyemalis – is a finch-sized bird that we observe usually underneath the feeders.  They a sweet-looking bird that also has a rigid social structure that calls for the dominant birds to boss the meeker birds.  As the days have  grown shorter they're paying us another visit as they return to their wintering grounds further south.  

click on the images for a better look

You can learn more about this song bird here.  And if you want to hear it’s call click here.