October 10, 2010 - Seasonal Snowbirds
Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

“Snowbirds” are showing up across our area. They are not returnees from Florida, but rather dark-eyed juncos moving south from Canada. The coloration of these small birds is described as “dark clouds over snow,” an apt depiction of their dark gray backs and white undersides. White outer tail feathers flash as they fly. Although juncos do nest in the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, there is an influx of juncos for the winter months. These gray sparrows frequent a variety of habitats during their stay, including open woodlands, thickets, roadsides, yards and gardens. They frequently visit bird feeding stations. They are birds of the ground so typically hop around looking for fallen seeds. Juncos travel in small flocks, so where there is one junco, expect to see several more. Juncos will be our snowbirds until April when they return north.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.