I found a nicely-marked "Cassiar" Junco at our place in western Lewis County this morning, 11/19/14. For those not familiar, "Cassiar" is a Slate-colored/Oregon intergrade with a core nesting area in western Canada. Many migrate southeasterly, and I find about a few percent of the mid-winter juncos in my area are Cassair. This is the earliest in the season I have noted one, however. I am curious about their distribution it the rest of Tennessee. I see them regularly in small numbers in Lewis and Lawrence counties in midwinter, and Mark Green has noted them in west TN, also in midwinter. They are found regularly to our west in MO, and are rare to our south and east in NC and GA, so there is likely a gradient across TN.
This form is not well-discussed in most field guides. Before the juncos were all lumped, it was considered to be a western form of Slate-colored Junco (so, no, it does not add "Oregon" Junco to your lists!). They are generally mostly slaty, but there is a sharp line of demarkation between the gray hood and the sides. Plus, the border between the hood and the lower breast is clearly convex, not concave as in typical Slate-colored. Especially in young birds and females, the sides often are tinged with reddish, sometimes being quite pink. These same birds also tend to show brownish tones on the mantle that can contrast notably with the hood, wings, and rump. The bird I saw this morning was one of these gray, brown, and pink "tricolored" ones. Some adult males, however, are patterned mostly in shades of gray, with the visibly darker and well-defined hood contrasting with paler gray sides being the key ID point. Brownish Slate-coloreds can be similar, but they generally lack the contrasty "Oregon-like" pattern and demarcated hood. And of course, as with all these distinctions among the junco forms, the lines are fuzzy and not every bird can be neatly put in one of the defined categories.
"Dark-eyed Junco (Cassiar)" is available for use in eBird as a reportable taxon, by the way. Use "add species" to find it, and include a description or photo of your bird.
Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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