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Possible Pink-sided Junco

Possible Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco
Possible "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco		 Possible Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco
Possible "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco		 Possible Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco
Possible "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco		 Possible Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco
Possible "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco		 Possible Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco
Possible "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco

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Joshua Uffman11-Feb-2010 03:05
Via ID Frontiers from Jim Pike:

Hi Joshua,

For me, this bird falls in the pink-sided 'wannabe' category. What I like least about this bird is the solid gray hood. Good Pink-sideds have a more diffuse hood (see Sibley). And I feel most comfortable with those that have the pink sides extending far out onto the breast, so there isn't much of a divide in the center.

regards, Jim Pike
Huntington Beach, CA
Joshua Uffman11-Feb-2010 03:04
Via ID Frontier from Tony Leukering:

Hi Joshua:

In my opinion, the bird seems fairly good for Pink-sided, but I've only glanced at the pix so far. What I wanted to write was that Chris Wood and I have worked on this (and other juncos) in Colorado fairly extensively, and we both think that PSJU (and, particularly, what we think is its closest relative, White-winged) have a call note subtly, but demonstrably different from that of SCJU/ORJU. You might listen for that. Finally, PSJU has a LOT more white in the tail than does SCJU, with it having a fairly WWJU-like tail. Pictures of the spread tail would go a LONG way to solving it.

Enjoy,

Tony Leukering
Villas, NJ
Joshua Uffman11-Feb-2010 03:03
Via ID Frontiers from Ted Floyd:

Hello, Birders.

Thanks to Joshua Uffman for posting the photos of the interesting junco in St. Louis County, Missouri.

To cut to the chase, I'll opine that bird probably is not a pure Pink-sided Junco.

If you go straight to the 5th image (pbase.com/jpuf/image/110874469), for example, you're looking at a bird that looks good for a montanus ("Montana") Oregon Junco. It's got an extensive, dark-gray hood that contrasts sharply with the lower breast; it's got buff flanks that are well-separated by the white of the lower breast; it's got a nice, warm, reddish-brown tone to the back; and its lores do not contrast strongly with the rest of the face.

But this 5th image also shows a bird that is within the range of variation, I believe, for a cismontanus Slate-colored Junco. This is the taxon sometimes referred to as "Cassiar" Junco, and it is famously variable. Basically, cismontanus is intermediate in appearance between nominate (hyemalis) Slate-colored and montanus Oregon Juncos--with variants that can look a lot like either Slate-colored or Oregon.

And another possibility for the 5th image is that it is a Pink-sided X montanus Oregon hybrid. As Alden Miller noted in his 1941 monograph on juncos, there is broad introgession between Pink-sided and montanus Oregon Juncos. Thus, we should expect to see many hybrids between Pink-sided and montanus Oregon.

If I were to assign relative probabilities to image #5, I'd say rank them as follows:

* Most likely: mainly or entirely a montanus Oregon Junco
* Next most likely: a cismontanus Slate-colored or cismontanus X montanus hybrid junco
* Not as likely: a Pink-sided x montanus hybrid junco
* Not too likely: a pure Pink-sided Junco

But that's only one of five photos that Joshua has provided us. The four other photos yield additional, and somewhat conflicting, evidence. Which provides us, yet again, with a reminder that a single photo is often problematic. Joshua's series of five photos reminds us that a single bird can look quite different in different photos. It's the same thing with human eyes and brains, of course; a bird can look like something at one point in time, and then like something quite different at another point in time. We all know that. We also need to appreciate that camera-generated images are subject to the same degree of variation and subjective interpretation...

Of the remaining photos, the one that is the best match to Pink-sided Junco is the third photo (pbase.com/jpuf/image/110874473). I wouldn't call it a perfect Pink-sided Junco, though. If I saw this bird in Colorado in the winter (where Pink-sided is routine), I'd say "maybe a pure Pink-sided, more likely a Pink-sided with some amount of something else--probably montanus Oregon." Strikes against pure Pink-sided include the following: the hood is a bit dark and a bit too strongly demarcated; the lores, although nicely contrasting, are a bit sloppy and irregular; the pink on the sides doesn't bulge out enough toward the lower breast; and the back is too brown and not gray enough.

So, to me, this bird just isn't a perfect Pink-sided. It's not really perfect for *anything*, and I think that's cool. The photos are fine, and they show more than enough detail for us to ponder. Some juncos just can't be put in a box, and this individual, in my opinion, is one such bird. Whatever it is, it is notable for St. Louis County, Missouri.

For the truly dedicated, there are two articles on Pink-sided Junco in Birding magazine from 6-7 years ago. Here are the specs:

Dunn, J.L. 2002. The identification of Pink-sided Juncos, with cautionary notes about plumage variation and hybridization. Birding 34:432-443.

Neal, J.C. 2003. The junco challenge: A genuine Pink-sided from Arkansas and some look-alikes. Birding 35:132-136.

In particular, check out Fig. 1 (p. 133) in Joe Neal's article. That's about as close as you'll come to a "perfect" Pink-sided Junco, in my opinion, and it shows a fair number of differences from Joshua's bird.

Ted Floyd
Michael Retter 09-Apr-2009 03:22
Looks like a female 'cismontanus' (Cassair) to me; I've seen a handful of these in Illinois, and unexplainably, mostly in March.
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