Subject: Re: 'Pink-Sided' Junco
Date: Oct 23 20:05:45 1997
From: "Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney" - festuca at olywa.net


Libor wrote:

" I recently posted a letter on bandchat and asked if anyone had measurements
of the J.h. mearnsi. I was interested in obaining them for some
comparisons to the J. h. montanus that I seem to get alot of. Do you know
where I can get these sizes?"

Libor,

I have no current references for this information.

The Pink-sided Junco was described by Ridgway as "Junco mearnsi" in the Auk, Vol 14 (1),
page 94 (1897) from a type specimen collected at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. I have never
researched these early descriptions, but assume that he would have given measurements (?)

In Bent's Life Histories, a number of references are given, including:

Alden H Miller. 1941. Speciation in the avian genus Junco. Univ. California Publ. Zool., vol 44,
pp. 173-434.

A.H. Miller. 1936. The identification of juncos banded in the Rocky Mountain States. Bird-Lore,
vol. 38, pp. 429-433.

M.P. Skinner. 1920. The pink-sided junco. Condor, vol 22, pp. 165-168.

No references were given under Bent's LH for the 'montanus' subspecies.

I realize that these are old references. Probably only available in a University Library or through
inter-library loan. I expect that folks banding birds along the front ranges of the Rockies would
likely have measurements, but these things are hardly ever published. You might check on the
Colorado birding email list, to see if someone in that part of the country might help.

A lot of the problem with junco (and other species) subspecies identification and reporting is that
we have been trained in an era of "field guide" sport-birding. When the field guides, the A.B.A.,
etc. have us focusing in on the species, the emphasis on sub-species is lost. Only when there is
a "split" of a species do most of us ever wish we'd kept notes on the sub-species. Cases in point
are whether there are records of the Rufous-sided Towhee out here (now that "ours" are - again
- Spotted Towhees. Few of us keep notes on Gambel's vs Puget White-crowned Sparrows vs
the dark-lored races. What'll we do when/if the AOU decides that there's some protein
difference between them and they're totally different species? Start anew.....

Hope this helps,

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net