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Submitted By

Kamala Englin

Eureka, CA, United States

Category

Species

A Dark-eyed Junco With A Few, Small, White Patches.

Just a dark-eyed junco with a few white spots.

18 replies on “A dark-eyed junco with a few, small, white patches.”

Linda Roundhill says:

I thought I was seeing things. We have a local junco in pur yard that is positively marbled with white spots! I will try to get a photo.

Karen Garcia says:

I have one in my yard too–with even more white patches than yours. I am calling it a leucistic coloring, meaning it has lost some melanin in it’s feathers. Not sure if that is correct so if anyone knows differently let me know.

Ava Johnson says:

Hi Karen, you are correct. The bird you are seeing is leucistic.

Denis Beller says:

we have one in our yard in Libby, MT. White spots on face and back of neck.

Ray says:

Just saw one in my yard. Looked like a male and the top of head was pure white.

Suzanne says:

There is one that visits my feeder regularly – beautiful white marbling in the black hood and chestnut colored back. I live in North Albany Oregon.

I have a junco visiting my feeder in northern Kentucky that has white streaking on the left side of its head, and nearly solid white on the right. A red-winged blackbird with a white streaked crown and throat also visited my feeder today. Two oddities in one day!

Martha Simonsen says:

We have a similar junco with white spots on his head and back.

Denise says:

Okay – just saw a bird – looked just like a junco but with a white patch on top of its head. I have never seen anything like it. Looked to see whether it could be a white-throated sparrow but not sure. Am waiting for it to reappear. So interesting that you have all seen similar birds. I live in Western Canada.

Holly Faulkner, Project Assistant says:

Hi Denise, Please review our Color Variants page – many species can exhibit Leucism – which is simply an abnormality in the way pigment is distributed in feathers, resulting in white patches. The bird may be normally colored in every other way, but have white patches on certain parts of their body. If it looks like a junco except for that patch, it’s likely a junco with leucism.

Penny Miller says:

Just saw a “white-cheeked” junco in our back yard. It looks exactly like the dark-eyed juncos we have, except that it has a large white spot on each cheek. The spots are not random-looking but are symmetrical and there are no other white spots. Really unusual, trying to get a photo!

Kimberly Ryseff says:

Just saw a white throated junco in my yard!
Seattle, WA

1-5-22

Katherine says:

I have a junco with one black dot on its chest.

Marie Bentley says:

I also have one here in Gibsons BC. Speckled head and back. Managed to get a photo!

Jeany says:

The one I spotted ( heh,heh) in Manitoba Canada, had a very dark head & back, a white oval on the cap over the eyes, and two large black dots, on each side of it’s upper breast.
Holly Faulkner explains in her reply above that it is “Leucism – which is simply an abnormality in the way pigment is distributed in feathers, resulting in white patches.”

LP says:

So helpful – I’ve spotted a number of dark-eyed juncos with white marks/streaks/speckles on their heads this year in Issaquah, WA, and wondered what it was.

Sarah M says:

I was looking into this and found this thread. I just also spotted one. In Washington state, near Seattle. It had a lot of white on it. Never seen one before.

NM_guy says:

Just saw one here in NM. Cool!

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