Dark-eyed Juncos(slate-colored race) are grayish, sparrow-sized birds commonly seen hopping, scratching and feeding on the ground under hanging bird feeders during the fall, winter and spring.

The females have a clay or brown-gray coloring, and males are slate gray with white bellies. Their outer tail feathers are white so that they create a flash when they fly away. This is said to help warn other juncos that a predator may be approaching, the same way the flash of a deer's white tail alerts other deer that danger lurks in the vicinity.

Boreal coniferous forests provide nesting habitats for dark-eyed juncos. Their range extends from Alaska across Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, and down to the southern extent of boreal forests like those in northern Minnesota.

The juncos nests are made of grasses, rootlets and moss, and concealed on the ground. They lay three to five eggs which take 11 or 12 days to hatch, and the young fledge in 9 to 13 days. After nesting, juncos migrate to wintering areas from central Minnesota to the southern states and northern Mexico.

Male dark-eyed juncos winter farther north than females, so there is frequently a disproportionate number of males at winter feeding stations in northern states. Among a flock of juncos you may notice a pecking order. Some males dominate selected feeder sites by chasing away other males. And males normally dominate the smaller females, and adult males and females both dominate the younger birds.

At feeders, dark-eyed juncos will eat white proso millet, black oil-sunflower seeds, cracked corn, grain, sorghum, peanuts, old bakery goods, broken walnuts, wheat or suet. They will eat out of a tray, screen or self feeders, but they usually feed on the ground. They are often seen feeding with American tree sparrows, fox sparrows, white-crowned sparrows and white-throated sparrows.