Snow Bird Diet

The dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemlais) is part of the Sparrow family and has the nickname of snow bird. When winter approaches, the snow bird leaves the northernmost part of its range in Canada and arrives in time to spend the winter in many portions of the United States.

Identification

The snow bird has a length between 5 and 6.5 inches, possesses a light pink beak and has dark eyes. Five subspecies of the bird exist, but all have some combination of gray plumages mixed with lighter colors.

Seeds

Snow birds eat a diet that consists mainly of assorted types of seeds. Among their favorites are the seeds of sorrel, buckwheat and chickweed, although at a feeder setting the snowbird will eat whatever is available, especially millet.

Insects

During the warmer months in their nesting range, the dark-eyed junco will capture and consume bugs such as moths, butterflies, ants, beetles and caterpillars.

Considerations

To entice a snow bird to your backyard feeder, scatter some sunflower seeds or cracked corn on a bird feeder tray, says the Wild Bird Watching website.

Fun Fact

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website states that estimates place the number of snow birds in just North America at as many as 630 million, making it among the most common of species.

References

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Dark-eyed Junco
• Wild Bird Watching: Dark-eyed Junco
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds; John Bull and John Farrand Jr; 2008