Dark Eyed Junco

Dark Eyed Junco
[Junco hyemalis hyemalis]

I was so excited this morning to see a little slate-colored Dark Eyed Junco hopping by my fence! A sure sign winter is here, Dark Eyed Juncos are common throughout the Arctic and Canada in the summer, and migrate to much of North America during the winter.
Mark Catesby originally described these birds as snow-birds, and their scientific name "hyemalis" means "of the winter." There is no specific collective noun for them, but because they're snowbirds, let's call them a Flurry of Junco's!
At about 6 inches with a wingspan of 9 inches, these little specimens of the emberizidae are related to buntings and new world sparrows and look and act a lot like them from a distance. As there are many subspecies of Dark Eyed Junco's, with some confusing variation in plumage, you can spot the slate-colored ones by their overall gray coloring, and all Dark Eyed Junco's by their white beaks, white bellies, and white outer tail feathers, unmistakable when in flight.