Yellow-eyed junco

The yellow-eyed junco (Junco phaeonotus) is a species of junco, a group of small New World sparrows.

Yellow-eyed junco
In Madera Canyon, Arizona
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
Genus: Junco
Species:
J. phaeonotus
Binomial name
Junco phaeonotus
Wagler, 1831

Its range is primarily in Mexico, extending into some of the mountains of the southern tips of the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico. It is not generally migratory, but sometimes moves to nearby lower elevations during winter. The female lays three to five pale gray or bluish-white eggs in an open nest of dried grass two to three times a year. Incubation takes 15 days, and when hatched, the chicks are ready to leave the nest two weeks later. This bird's diet consists mainly of seeds, berries and insects.

Mount Lemmon, Arizona

Taxonomy

The yellow-eyed junco was formally described in 1831 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler from a specimen collected in Mexico. He introduced a new genus, Junco, and coined the binomial name Junco phaeonotus.[2] The genus name is from Latin iuncus meaning "rush". The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek phaios meaning "dusky" or "brown" with -nōtos meaning "-backed".[3]

Four subspecies are recognised:[4]

  • Arizona yellow-eyed junco (J. p. palliatus) Ridgway, 1885 – the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico
  • Mexican yellow-eyed junco (J. p. phaeonotus) Wagler, 1831 – central and southern Mexico
  • Chiapas yellow-eyed junco (J. p. fulvescens) Nelson, 1897 – the interior of Chiapas (in southern Mexico)
  • Guatemalan yellow-eyed junco (J. p. alticola) Salvin, 1863 – southeastern Chiapas (in southern Mexico) and western Guatemala

Baird's junco (Junco bairdi) was previously considered a subspecies of this species.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Junco phaeonotus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T103778667A136818546. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T103778667A136818546.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Wagler, Johann Georg (1831). "Einige Mittheilungen über Thiere Mexicos". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). Col 510–535 [526].
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 212, 300. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "New World Sparrows, Bush Tanagers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
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