Dark-Eyed Junco
Male: unstreaked white belly; dark gray head; pink bill and legs; white outer tail feathers; no wing bars. Female: similar to male but paler. Juncos, which appear in two color forms, are abundant throughout Missouri during the winter. The most common color form is the slate-colored junco. It is light to dark gray all over except for its belly and the two to three outermost feathers on each side of the tail, which are white. The less common color form, Oregon junco, appears in the northern counties. The back is a red-brown and the sides are rusty to pink. The brown sharply contrasts with the black or dark gray of the head and chest, giving the appearance of a hood. Both color forms can be recognized by the sudden flash of contrasting white and dark tail feathers darting toward a bush.
