Give the Gift of FeederWatch. Purchase a gift certificate for your recipient in the U.S. or a Birds Canada membership in Canada.
Find out what Project FeederWatch is, its history, and more
Find out how you FeederWatch, when you can FeederWatch, and what you'll need to do to get started
Review these instructions carefully before you count and enter data
Find out about types of feeders and types of foods, and where to place your feeder
Feeding Birds FAQs
Explore the winter distribution, food, and feeder preferences of common feeder birds.
Find out about color and plumage variations, bald heads, and deformed bills
Unusual Birds Gallery
Find out about bird disease and identifying the signs of bird disease
Sick Birds Gallery
Find out how to identify birds and download identification tools
Learn how to help birds as they seek out food sources, nesting habitat, protection, and more
Find educational resources for teachers, group leaders, and families
Find an article archive packed with lots of great bird study information
Learn about house finch eye disease
Review content from current and past BirdSpotter photo contests
Keep up to date with the latest FeederWatch happenings
These are exemplary FeederWatchers!
Send us your photos! Show us your count site, your birds, or you watching your site with loved ones!
Visit our live FeederWatch feedercams!
Cornell Lab of Ornithology feeders
Ontario (winter only)
See what birds occur the most by region
Explore species by state/province
See where FeederWatchers are
Graphs of regional population trends and distributions
Explore papers that have used FeederWatch data
Lab scientists analyze the data submitted by FeederWatch participants.
See birds well outside their winter range submitted to Project FeederWatch.
Start here for data entry and personal data review and exploration
Keep live track of your counts using the FeederWatch mobile app
Erica Alex
Minnedosa, MB, Canada
This Junco has been hanging around for about a week now. It is kind of ironic because this summer I saw a Junco up at Riding Mountain National Park that had a white tail as well.
I live in Thiells, NY and saw my first white tailed junco this morning at my feeder. Very pretty! I guess it is a male. There were others with some white feathers on the underside of the tail. I guess they are the females.
We have white tailed juncos on our island home in Puget Sound, Washington. This post is the first mention of them I’ve seen, after a long search. Cool!!
I have 2 white tailed Junko’s at my feeder this morning. This is the first time I have seen them and I spend a lot of time watching my feeder. 7/27/21 Newcastle, WA
This is great! I live on Lummi island in WA and we have one hanging this year!! Very cool!
Hi Here I am in Malibu. Have had juncos, but was thrilled to have my first white tailed junco today. ?
Me, too! All week I’ve had a white tailed junco feeding on our deck with the usual junco gang. I live on the hills of Honeoye Lake NY.
I just saw a gray slated Junco with a bright white tail for the first time a few minutes ago in my garden here in Lake Placid, NY….had to look it up to see if it was ill or a variation of some sort…nice to find out it was not an ill bird! š
We have Juncos all summer here in Tupper Lake, NY but just saw my first white tail Junco this morning. Pretty cool!
Well … after years of watching juncos in the winter, this morning I see one with a pure white tail on our feeder in Marengo Illinois. Against the snow I cannot see itās tail at all.
First white tailed Junco at our feeder. Pure solid white tail.
Ontario Canada ??
Yes, I live in Iowa. I have juncos come every year from October to April since 2008, when we moved here.
This is the first year we have seen 2 juncos with full white tail.
Any feedback on the difference of this breed?
It’s fairly common for birds to have patches of white feathers. This is called partial albinism by some and leucism by others. Feel free to check out our article on this subject: https://feederwatch.org/color_variant/albinism-and-leucism/ -Holly Faulkner, Project Assistant
Thank you, very interesting article.
Just saw a white tailed junco on my back deck in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We have lots of juncos, but I never saw one with a white tail before.
Juncos have just arrived back in my back yard near Minneapolis, MN. One of them has a completely white tail. We always have juncos around all winter long, but this the first one I have seen with an all white tail.
Had a full white-tailed junco.. see recent report on E-Bird Canada, have 3 pictures posted.. thanks to all of you.. who have posted observations..I, really needed your support..and thank you.. all of you for your continued observations.. Cheers.. your comments.. are Indeed loyally and gratefully helpful.. Your feedback,, is cherished. know that..
thanks for your white-tailed comment.. appreciated
11-15-18 Just saw my first white tailed junco on feeder- here in central Maryland.
I’m in Seattle and was astonished to see a white-tailed junco on the ground near my feeder this afternoon. Very grateful to find the information here!
White tailed Junco is a daily feeder at my home in Pelham, N.H.
I have lived in North Bothell for 12 years and fed the birds throughout this time. Today we saw a white-tailed junco for the first time! Exciting to see something different in these parts!
Are white tailed species a different species? We have some at our feeders today in Raynham, Mass.
Hi Kathy, No, birds wih discolorations like this are simply missing pigment in those feathers. You can learn more on our unusual birds page.
We spotted a white-tailed junco beneath the feeder this morning in Beacon, NY. First time I have seen one!
So cool! I just spotted a white tail junco in downtown Lowell, MA. It was in a tree but then flew over a building before I could get a pic of it.. I’ve never seen one before!! Thanks for article!
I just saw my first Junco with an all white tail, feeding on some seed I throw in the backyard every evening. Location: Town of Chenango, Binghamton, NY. Awesome! I have never seen one with an all white tail before, so this was a treat.
We had two visit our back deck today, near Cleveland, Ohio. This page helped us identify them. Very neat!
Had two white tailed juncos on feeder in Colorado Springs Co
Just saw a white tailed junco for the first time on our bird feeder. What a gift Banner Elk North Carolina 8/23/19
Bainbridge Twp, Ohio. (Eastern Suburb of Cleveland). Have had junco’s visit for years. Saw my first white tailed junco yesterday and it is back today with an all black junco. I found this site when I googled it. Beautiful!
I have seen a white-tail Junco at my platform feeder in Woodland Park, CO for the past week.
We have a white tailed junco at our feeder in Sequim, WA. First time we have ever seen it. Very exciting!
October 14, 2019 at 4:00 pm
White tailed slate junco ground feeding in our yard in Edmonton Alberta for the past week. Thanks for the info.
Thought I was imagining it, but yes. Two White Tailed Juncos hopping along the deck this morning. Little Falls MN 10/25/2019 Very striking.
Thereās one junco with one white tail feather on the patio and one with two white tail feathers, one on each side of its tail. Beautiful. One male spends more time running off the other birds than he does eating. I also have one little junco who occasionally will come by itself and snuggle against the patio door for awhile. 1/21/20 Foothills Ca
I am in the NW Suburbs of Chicago and could not believe my eyes. A dark eyed junco with a very white tail. I got a picture, but of course, the droplets of rain on the window made it difficult..and the white tail blends in with all of the dropped seed!
We are in Des Moines, Washington and have a couple of white-tailed Juncos on our deck eating bird seed. I think there are youngsters too. Never seen them before this year.
In Palo Alto. CA, we have been visited by what seem to be Oregon juncos with pure-white tails. Very distinctive.
Thank you for saying you live in Palo Alto Sam! We live in Oakland. I thought I was crazy for seeing Juncos with white tail feathers here! They are not all white however. A few very bright ones in the middle of their tails. Gorgeous!
I live in a rural area near Oregon City, OR. This morning I saw an Oregon Junco with a completely white tail at my feeder. I don’t remember seeing one before.
We are in Colton and just saw our first one too!!
Gainesville,MO. First white tailed junco that I have seen.
Iām beginning to think the white tailed Junko may be a new species since they are being spotted all over versus Leucistic which is rare ! Iāve been birding for years and never saw a pure white tailed Junko before until just recently on a camping trip to Silver Lake by Kirkwood resort south of Lake Tahoe couldnāt figure out what it was !!
Actually I just posted and I meant to say that I saw about a dozen of them on the shore of Silverlake all with pure white tails so doesnāt sound like a rare occurrence!
We have had one on our feeder in Missoula Montana the last few days.
We just saw our first White Tail Junco at our cottage near Algonquin Park, in Northern Ontario.
Saw my first Whitetail Junco yesterday. Striking white tail feathers. There were two birds. Definitely white tail feathers on each. One also had a white beak. My location at 2000 feet elevation in North Central Pennsylvania usually is home for birds I used to see much farther north during summer in North Central Ontario
I live in Western NC and have about 12white tailed juncos at my bird feeders…never really noticed the white tail feather before now.
Have a flock of two dozen around for 3 days now with one white tail. SW of Georgian Bay, Ontario.
We live in Plymouth Vermont, over the lat week and a half, our yard has been the playground for these sweet juncos…..dozens at a time.
I live in Champlin, Minnesota and have a completely white tailed junco under my feeder this morning. Saw a gray bird with a white tail fly through the yard a few mornings ago but couldnāt ID it. Now I know, and have been birding for more than 10 years and have never seen one.
Iāve just seen the first white-tailed junco in my experience! We have lots without the white feathers. So nice to find info here. Iām in Silverdale, WA, on the Hood Canal. This new guy seems larger than his bleak-tailed cohorts.
Watching juncos always make me happy!
Live in Moreau New York, foothills of the Adirondacks. I have many birds but always lots of Juncos. Several have 2 whirred feathers on each side of tail, 3 have all white tail. They chase each other and even chase the squirrels and chipmunks. They make me think of mini penguins They. Flock with the Bluebirds that wintered here this year.
We have a white tailed Junco at our feeder in Olympia, Wa.
We have seen these in Northern North Dakota 40 miles from the Canadian border. April 2022.
I have recently noticed the white-tailed Junco in our yard feeder. It must be a flock passing through to the North. We have had as many as 75 Juncos some with white tail feathers. Spring ,April 2022.
FYI Northern North Dakota
We had our first white tailed Junco last year here in Atascadero CA. On Hwy 41 west. We have now spotted another one this year a few days ago. July 22nd 2022. They land on our deck, feed and drink water from our water bowls. They do appear to be the Oregon Juncos. This is amazing. Love it !!! Have watched them for years, so we were surprised to see what might be a new species?
Amazing is all I can say. So beautiful.
White tailed juncos at the feeder. Been seeing them here in Colorado Springs off and on the past several years. There are 3 traveling with āregularā juncos.
We have two white tailed juncos coming to our feeder in Ithaca, NY. One also has two patches of white on its head and neck.
I live in southern Maine and this morning, I saw a small flock of Juncos outside my windows. One of them had a long white tail, which I found unusual. Lo and behold! There is such a creature as a white-tailed Junco. Who knew?
Hello Rachel, thank you for reaching out! This Dark-eyed Junco with a white tail most likely has some form of leucism or albinism, which is just a color defect.
Thank you so much, Heidi, for this explanation. While I am not an expert at certain species like hawks, etc., I am pretty well-versed on my songbird species. I did the usual research and found nothing to corroborate the existence of a junco with a white tail. Upon closer observation, I noticed that the white “tail” is a single feather displaced from beneath the bird’s tail. So I suspected it was an aberration and not common. I make a lot of bird videos for YouTube, so I will be sure to share this accurate information. Again, thanks! And Happy Birding!
I spotted a white tail junco at my feeding station in Windsor Ct today 11-27-2022
Saw a very similar looking bird this morning and again in the later afternoon at our feeder here at our home in the Fremont area of Seattle! Thanks for all the interesting comments from all of you other observers of this, what appears to be not so uncommon variant of the Dark-eyed Juncos which we normally see here in winterā¦..whatās also interesting is that the Juncos around here all leave mid-spring or so for parts east and this oneās here in summer. So the consensus is that this bird is a semi-leucistic mutational variant and not a newly developing off-shoot Junco species?
Just today we have 2 of these in our yard. Never saw here before…and today 2!
An all white tail junco has come to my yard in Port Angeles, Wa for a second day – ground feeding. My first time to see one. Surprising to see how many others have seen them. Very cool!
I just saw a white tailed Junco. Very pretty & it was running along the ground sneaking under bushes but could see its tail well!! It was very to me. Westchester, Ca
I live in the rural area just east of North Bend, WA and Iāve been seeing white tailed juncoes for a few weeks now, but this is the first year Iāve seen them. Iāve seen one with a stark white tail tail and one with white edges on the tail.
I believe white tailed junco must be what I saw this morning! In addition to the white tail, this bird had a smattering of white feathers on its back. Nothing else on Google search comes close.
Approved
So I had around 15 Juncos on the ground around my bird feeder. Of them, 1 had no white on its chest and 2 were more brownish than dark gray on top. But – 4 of the Juncos had like only 1 white tail feather (forgot to check if it was always the same sideā¦.) on the outside edge of their tails with most of their tail feathers dark gray. Checked to see about it and this web page came up!! Glad I am not crazyā¦..šššš
Today was the first time I had a white tailed junco at my feeder !! I have juncos every year but never saw a white tailed one till today .. I live in Greenwell Springs Louisiana . I hope to see more soon š
I just saw a Junco with a pure white tail, foraging with two other Juncos. Very unusual and beautiful, especially in flight. Iām in Los Gatos, California.
This morning I saw two very distinctive white tailed Juncos amongst the other Juncos. Both with black hoods. Lynnwood, WA.
We live in Vancouver, WA and for the past couple years we’ve had a few year-round juncos with white tail feathers at our backyard feeders. I wonder if albinism is being passed down or if we just have a lot of birds getting their tail feathers torn out…
I live in northern lower Michigan near Traverse City and we just saw one this afternoon.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.