A Ubiquity of Dark-eyed Juncos

Though I think I've heard them recently, I haven't seen Dark-eyed Juncos recently. If they're still down here, they're no doubt planning their northward migration to their breeding grounds. Since we probably won't see these guys for a while, let's admire these little dudes through pictures.

I think their manners are a little better when they forage in the wild than they do when I've fed them at my patio. On my patio there are lots of attempts to intimidate one another while feeding, but on a trail where food is far less plentiful they seem to all be pecking around the area without conflict. I suspect that when foraging in the wild any food they find just gets immediately eaten, leaving nothing to fight over.

I called them a ubiquity of Dark-eyed Juncos. Though this webpage doesn't address a group of juncos directly, they do suggest "ubiquity", "host", "quarrel", and "tribe" as collective names for sparrows. Since juncos are a subset of sparrows, these should all apply. I chose "ubiquity" today because Dark-eyed Juncos are considered to be one of the most numerous and widespread bird species in North America. Perhaps the term "quarrel" would work better when describing the ones feeding at my patio, or at bird feeders, where they'll jostle for positioning in a pecking order.

January 10, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 251774262, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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