>I have seen several "Slate-colored" Juncos this winter at my feeder but now a
>friend has a beautiful "pink-sided" coming to her feeder (she drew a great
>picture which I will send to anyone who wants it).What is the status of this
>race in Washington? Several years ago I found three in northern California and
>sent description to American Birds but they only published a note saying that
>several different observers had seen them and that "they were under review".
>According to Bent, they should be in Yellowstone N.P. and vicinity.
>Clark Blake, Dept. of Geology, WWU, Bellingham, WA 98225.

To my knowledge there are no records of "Pink-sided" juncos (Junco hyemalis
mearnsi) in WA. This is surprising, and I have always thought they should
be here as vagrants if nothing else. They breed as close as eastern MT and
eastern ID. It would take a good photograph, preferably in comparison with
a nearby "Oregon," or a specimen to document such a occurrence. I have
birds at my own feeder that I wonder about, but I'll have to admit I
haven't pursued it beyond that. A mistnetting program could document some
of this variation, although we have a couple of trays full of Dark-eyed
Juncos in the Slater Museum, and no bird from WA is pale like a Pink-sided.

Pink-sided of any sex or age have very plain gray heads that contrast
strongly with both the bright pinkish-brown sides and the brown back. The
head/back contrast may be the best field mark, as well as the paleness,
several shades paler than any of our normally occurring Oregons. Some
Oregon juncos do look rather pale, but they are usually young birds with
the brownish of the back more or less extending over the entire top of the
head and neck. The eastern WA subspecies, Junco hyemalis montanus, is a bit
paler than that from western WA (J. h. shufeldti), and, in addition, a
darker subspecies (J. h. oreganus) migrates here from coastal AK and BC
during the winter. I wouldn't be surprised at a flock containing all three
of these subspecies, which would produce quite a bit of variation.

As if that weren't enough, we regularly get Slate-colored juncos from AK
and northern BC (J. h. cismontanus with brownish back and J. h. hyemalis
with gray back) in winter.

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416