[TN-Bird] Whatever happened to Junco hyemalis carolinensis?

From: EGLEAVES@xxxxxxx
To: TN-BIRD@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 11:36:56 EST
In my dog-eared copy of Leon Augustus Hausman's <Illustrated Encyclopedia of 
American Birds>, published in 1947, I find the following description of the 
"Carolina" Junco: "Similar to the Slate-colored Junco [Junco hyemalis 
hyemalis], but larger; the slaty-gray plumage showing no trace of a brownish 
cast."

This is a perfect description of the juncos that I saw earlier this week on 
top of Old Smoky, i.e.,  Mt. LeConte, which coincides with the distribution 
of the "Carolina" Junco in Hausman: "Along the higher Allegheny Mountains 
from Virginia to Georgia."   Also, the juncos we encountered in the high 
elevations were much more approachable than our wintering "snowbirds."

It has long been my understanding that the "Carolina" Junco, a subspecies of 
the old Slate-Colored Junco, distinguished itself by migrating vertically in 
the spring up the mountains from the valleys while the non-Carolina juncos 
migrated the old-fashioned way to distant northern climes.   This "remarkably 
short migration route" of the "Carolina" Junco is also mentioned in T. 
Gilbert Pearson's <Birds of America> (1936 edition).

Most of our new and improved juncos are now classified, according to Ken 
Kaufman and others, as types or races or forms of the Dark-eyed Junco (Junco 
hyemalis) and now embrace many former species or subspecies: Slate-colored 
Junco, Oregon Junco, Pink-sided Junco, White-winged Junco, Gray-headed Junco, 
and Red-backed Junco (but not the Yellow-eyed Junco).

So--whatever happened to the "Carolina" Junco?   Is it no more than your 
everyday Slate-colored Junco?   Are the vertical-migrating birds no longer 
distinguishable from the long-distant ones?   And are they no longer 
considered "larger. . . . showing no trace of a brownish cast"?

One other note about LeConte.   Just a few yards from the main lodge on the 
summit, I encountered a small flock of Red Crossbills, a life bird that had 
eluded me on my previous 15+ trips to LeConte.   They too were surprisingly 
approachable.

Any ideas on the juncos?

Ed Gleaves
Nashville, TN


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[TN-Bird] Whatever happened to Junco hyemalis carolinensis?

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