 On November
16, 2009 I was watching the birds at the feeder and noticed this oddly
plumaged Junco. I've seen leucism in many species of birds, but the markings
around the eye were oddly reminiscent. For five consecutive seasons I had
a similarly plumaged junco at my feeder.
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 The first "White-Eyed"
Junco first showed up at my feeder in the winter of 1998-1999. All the
photos are fairly borderline because it almost always showed up in the
afternoon when the feeder area was in shadow. Shooting through a window
didn't help. It continued to show up year after year, almost always arriving
the second week of November. (Photo taken 2/25/99)
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 Winter 1999-2000
(12/12/99)
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 Winter 2000-2001.
Note that the area around the eye is growing (12/13/00)
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 Winter 2001-2002.
(3/6/02)
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 Winter 2002-2003
(3/13/03). This was the best I could do for a photo. This was the last
season I saw this bird. When November of 2003 arrived I waited and watched
all the juncos, but finally realized it wasn't going to show up again.
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 Anyway, what
do I make of this bird? What are the odds that two "White-eyed" Juncos
would show up, years apart, at my feeder. On the other hand, could this
leucism be genetic, and this is a progeny (how many generations?) of my
original bird. Since migration appears to be inherent rather than learned,
why not inherit the urge to migrate to my yard? |