Date: 5/22/26 12:34 pm From: Jerry Skinner <jay2of6...> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Dark-eyed Juncos - a suburban summer yard bird now??
There have been summer resident juncos at Sweet Melissa’s ice cream shop in
downtown Ithaca for two years now.
On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 11:42 AM Donna Lee Scott <dls9...> wrote:
> DE Juncos built a nest in a pot of New Guinea Impatiens in a metal stand
> near the front/main entry of a Kendal cottage in the south/middle side of
> this Ithaca old folks home this spring.
> …In a cluster of “cottages”(row houses, really). Lots of cement
> sidewalks.
> No good habitat anywhere nearby. Just a few ornamental trees.
>
> The resident has counted 4 eggs.
> Bird-savvy person, so he will be careful not to water nest.
>
> Donna Scott
> Kendal at Ithaca-377
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 22, 2026, at 11:12 AM, david nicosia (via CAYUGABIRDS-L list) <
> <CAYUGABIRDS-L...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Now that I am retired, I’ve been taking some time to document the breeding
> Dark-eyed Juncos in my neighborhood here in Johnson City, and I’m amazed at
> how they have transitioned into a common "backyard" summer breeder.
>
> For context, I have had nesting Juncos on my property for years, which
> I’ve always attributed to my dense spruce/fir cover and year-round feeding.
> However, I’ve recently been mapping singing males in the surrounding
> neighborhood, and the habitat selection is fascinating:
>
> -
>
> *Observation 1:* A male singing from the top of a utility pole in an
> area with very few conifers or dense brush.
> -
>
> *Observation 2:* A male in better habitat (adjacent to woods) singing
> from the top of a basketball backboard.
> -
>
> *Observation 3:* A male singing from a rooftop surrounded by small
> blue spruce/arborvitae, again in a yard with limited cover.
>
> By contrast, I walked a steep, north-facing hillside across from my house
> this morning—a mature northern hardwood forest with hemlocks, red pine, and
> Norway spruce—and I recorded zero Juncos. They seem to show a strong
> preference for the south-facing suburban yards, which stands in stark
> contrast to my memories from 40+ years ago, when finding a summer Junco
> required trekking into deep, shaded ravines.
>
> For a species so strongly associated with boreal breeding and cold-adapted
> affinities, this shift seems quite significant. I am reminded of the
> well-documented adaptation of the Oregon subspecies of the Dark-Eyed Junco
> in Southern California. Are we seeing a similar pathway for * hyemalis*
> here in the East?
>
> Has anyone else noticed this trend in their local areas? I would be very
> interested to hear if others are seeing this shift toward suburban nesting
> or if there are any current studies investigating this behavioral
> plasticity.
>
> Best,
> Dave Nicosia
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