White-winged Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis aikeni), Hearst Tanks, Grand Canyon South Rim, Coconino County

This White-winged Dark-eyed Junco was discovered and photographed by Brian Gatlin on 13 December 2012.

White-winged Dark-eyed Junco is a casual winter visitor and has only been recorded in three previous winters.  Four were found in the winter of 2000-2001, one in 1971 and several in the winter of 1936-37. 

Brian writes:

"Distinguishing White-winged Junco from Slate-colored Junco is the only challenge here. [A small percentage of Slate-colored Juncos have wing bars.]   According to Beadle and Rising (1996, pp 224-9), for Slate-colored Junco, the 2 outer rectrices (5th and 6th) are white, with some white showing on the 4th (this white on the 4th is on the inner portion, with dark on the outer web). On White-winged, the 4th, 5th, and 6th rectrices are white, with some white showing on the 3rd. In one picture you can see the three outer rectrices edge on, and all appear white (including on the outer web, where one would expect dark on the 4th rectrice of a Slate-colored). I had some concern that the bird was too dark, but I received the following comments from Christian Nunes (who sees WWJU regularly and has looked closely at many juncos): "This certainly is a White-winged Junco. One feature that stands out on WWJUs in CO is the large, dull bill with an almost silvery hue. This bird shows this aspect well. The color of the bird and the contrast of the lores also look typical of WWJUs in CO."

13 December 2012, photo by Brian Gatlin

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