Holly Faulkner, Project Assistant says:

Hi Elizabeth. Dark-eyed Juncos are not a rare species, however many birds have certain habitat requirements. If your new property is more urban than your previous property, that could be a factor into why you are seeing less juncos. Keep in mind, in both cities, juncos are usually only seen in winter, and on migration. However, it’s possible that it was more likely for you to see flocks of migrating juncos along the lakefront, rather than in the city of Boston. In any case, you can try attracting them to your yard with native plants and by providing the right kinds of bird seed. House Sparrows unfortunately will eat almost any seed, but we have some tips on how to deter them in our 2018-2019 Winter Bird Highlights (page 4). You can also use our Common Feeder Birds tool to view what each kind of bird species prefers for bird seed. For example, nyjer seed will attract both juncos and goldfinches, as well as sunflower seed.