Pink-Sided Junco!

Here are some photos that we have taken over the last 2 days. This is a Pink-Sided Oregon Junco. This subspecies is usually found in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. It typically winters in areas such as Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and western Texas.

There has never been a verified occurrence of this subspecies in Oregon. We have sent a reporting form and photos to the Oregon Rare Bird Committee and we are waiting to hear from them to see if they will recognize this subspecies (usually they just accept new species, rather than subspecies), but we're hoping! We have spoken to one of the members of the board and he feels that it is a good and verifiable Pink-Sided Junco! Very exciting!!

The photos aren't great, but they are still clear enough. Here's a link to a much better photo (not taken by us) of a Pink-Sided Junco: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/3054400855/sizes/l/ and if you compare, it's pretty easy to see that the photos below are, indeed, a Pink-Sided Junco!

Compare this photo with the link above. It's the best example.


The Pink-Sided have a bluish/gray hood (head), extensive pinkish flanks (sides), dark lores (the eyes), and a light colored throat.


It was dark and very cloudy, so the photos aren't very good.


I can't tell you how excited we were to find this female!

Kind of blurry, but you can still tell the difference.