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Erica Alex

Minnedosa, MB, Canada

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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.

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White Tailed Junco

78 replies on “White tailed Junco”

maureen strongin says:

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.

MFThieme says:

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!!

Donna says:

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

Di Kegeles says:

This is great! I live on Lummi island in WA and we have one hanging this year!! Very cool!

Vyvyan Benlloch says:

Hi Here I am in Malibu. Have had juncos, but was thrilled to have my first white tailed junco today. ?

Sue Cannon says:

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! šŸ™‚

Wendy Kendall says:

We have Juncos all summer here in Tupper Lake, NY but just saw my first white tail Junco this morning. Pretty cool!

Mark Graves says:

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 itā€™s tail at all.

Lindy says:

First white tailed Junco at our feeder. Pure solid white tail.

Lindy says:

Ontario Canada ??

Mary says:

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?

Holly Faulkner says:

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

Mary says:

Thank you, very interesting article.

Joy Hecht says:

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.

Jim Showalter says:

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.

andree says:

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..

Andree says:

thanks for your white-tailed comment.. appreciated

John says:

11-15-18 Just saw my first white tailed junco on feeder- here in central Maryland.

Maureen says:

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!

Joe Szafran says:

White tailed Junco is a daily feeder at my home in Pelham, N.H.

Peggy says:

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!

Kathy Romero says:

Are white tailed species a different species? We have some at our feeders today in Raynham, Mass.

Holly Faulkner, Project Assistant says:

Hi Kathy, No, birds wih discolorations like this are simply missing pigment in those feathers. You can learn more on our unusual birds page.

Anne Kane says:

We spotted a white-tailed junco beneath the feeder this morning in Beacon, NY. First time I have seen one!

Rebecca says:

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!

Theresa Kellar says:

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.

Lauren says:

We had two visit our back deck today, near Cleveland, Ohio. This page helped us identify them. Very neat!

Heather Kitchen says:

Had two white tailed juncos on feeder in Colorado Springs Co

Jane says:

Just saw a white tailed junco for the first time on our bird feeder. What a gift
Banner Elk North Carolina 8/23/19

Pam Holliday says:

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!

Teri says:

I have seen a white-tail Junco at my platform feeder in Woodland Park, CO for the past week.

Barb Gruner says:

We have a white tailed junco at our feeder in Sequim, WA. First time we have ever seen it. Very exciting!

POLLY FORESTER says:

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.

Laura says:

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.

Diane says:

Thereā€™s 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

Kelly Sviatko says:

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!

Cathy says:

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.

Sam says:

In Palo Alto. CA, we have been visited by what seem to be Oregon juncos with pure-white tails. Very distinctive.

Erin says:

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!

Marty Wallauer says:

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.

Kimberly D Wilson says:

We are in Colton and just saw our first one too!!

Mary says:

Gainesville,MO. First white tailed junco that I have seen.

Mary says:

Iā€™m beginning to think the white tailed Junko may be a new species since they are being spotted all over versus Leucistic which is rare !
Iā€™ve 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 couldnā€™t figure out what it was !!

Mary says:

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 doesnā€™t sound like a rare occurrence!

David Andrews says:

We have had one on our feeder in Missoula Montana the last few days.

Vicki Scheeler says:

We just saw our first White Tail Junco at our cottage near Algonquin Park, in Northern Ontario.

Edward Zinser says:

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

Christine Klein says:

I live in Western NC and have about 12white tailed juncos at my bird feeders…never really noticed the white tail feather before now.

Thies Scheele says:

Have a flock of two dozen around for 3 days now with one white tail.
SW of Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Joan says:

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.

Tonia Swennes says:

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 couldnā€™t ID it. Now I know, and have been birding for more than 10 years and have never seen one.

Lisa Johnson says:

Iā€™ve just seen the first white-tailed junco in my experience! We have lots without the white feathers. So nice to find info here. Iā€™m in Silverdale, WA, on the Hood Canal.
This new guy seems larger than his bleak-tailed cohorts.

Watching juncos always make me happy!

Mary says:

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.

Theresa whatley says:

We have a white tailed Junco at our feeder in Olympia, Wa.

Russell Baxter says:

We have seen these in Northern North Dakota 40 miles from the Canadian border. April 2022.

Russell Baxter says:

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.

Russell Baxter says:

FYI Northern North Dakota

Linda says:

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?

Linda says:

Amazing is all I can say. So beautiful.

Hearher Kitchen says:

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 ā€œregularā€ juncos.

Suzanne Snedeker says:

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?

Heidi Faulkner, Project Assistant says:

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!

James Govoni says:

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€¦..whatā€™s also interesting is that the Juncos around here all leave mid-spring or so for parts east and this oneā€™s 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?

Mark Skeie says:

Just today we have 2 of these in our yard. Never saw here before…and today 2!

Joanie says:

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!

tommy roys says:

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

Nancy Tucker says:

I live in the rural area just east of North Bend, WA and Iā€™ve been seeing white tailed juncoes for a few weeks now, but this is the first year Iā€™ve seen them. Iā€™ve seen one with a stark white tail tail and one with white edges on the tail.

Deborah Marble says:

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.

Deborah Marble says:

Approved

Jim Stein says:

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€¦..šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ‘šŸ˜Ž

Tanya crawford says:

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 šŸ˜

Wendy Holmes says:

I just saw a Junco with a pure white tail, foraging with two other Juncos. Very unusual and beautiful, especially in flight. Iā€™m in Los Gatos, California.

Russell says:

This morning I saw two very distinctive white tailed Juncos amongst the other Juncos. Both with black hoods. Lynnwood, WA.

Joya says:

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…

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