JUNCOS AND WHITE-THROATS

      One late afternoon in winter, when I was about ten years old, I walked through a patch of weeds standing tall in our family garden in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Suddenly, a little flock of small, gray birds flew up at once and dashed away from those weeds where they had been eating seeds.  Each lovely, little bird flashed a white V in its tail as those birds quickly flew away from me.  At the time, I didn't know what kind of birds they were, but later learned they were dark-eyed juncos.  

     During succeeding winters, I saw juncos in weedy fields near stands of young, planted evergreen trees, into which they retreated when frightened by a hungry hawk, or my presence.  Interestingly, those jaunty juncos always flashed white V's as they flitted away into the conifers to hide.  And those V's disappeared when the birds landed in the dark recesses of needled boughs, which, I suspect, confuses would-be predators who lost track of their prey.  Juncos also spend winter nights in the sheltering embrace of young, shapely coniferous trees. 

     A few years later, I noticed white-throated sparrows wintering in thickets along woodland edges and hedgerows between fields.  Many of those little, brown and streaked birds had white throat patches.  And all of them had striking, black and white-striped crowns.  Adult males sang their beautifully whistled songs at dusk before retiring for the night in sheltering thickets.  

     The attractive and adaptable dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows winter among planted conifers and thickets in local farmland, and in Lancaster County suburbs.  We get both these handsome and interesting species on our suburban lawn every winter, because of conifers, shrubbery and bird feeders.  They also feed on the seeds of weeds and tall grasses, where they can find them. 

     Juncos and white-throats arrive in Lancaster County in the autumn beauties of mid-October from nesting grounds farther north.  And they stay here until the lovely greening of stately trees and shrubbery in early May, when those birds push north to raise young.    

     Wintering juncos and white-throats, either alone or together, help enliven lawns with their beauties and activities.  And they are a couple of the first bird species to come to bird feeders.  Watch for them and other kinds of lively birds on your lawn.  They certainly help brighten a gloomy, cold winter's day.

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