POINT PINOS OREGON JUNCO 1089 



(Zonotrichia I. nuttalli) flj'^ing about the barn, near the place the tree 

 had grown before being cut, in great confusion. He writes: "They 

 were coming in from all directions and would i\y to where they had 

 been used to roosting, but their lodging house was gone. They came 

 by fours and more, hovering in mid-air, and fluttered about in circles, 

 then ahghted on the bam * * *. Many dodged do\vTi into the cy- 

 press hedge in front of the barn, keeping up short flights to the fallen 

 tree as it lay in the road." 



Voice. — Calls and notes of pinosus are no different from those of 

 others of the species insofar as I can determine. 



Field marks. — During the breeding season when no other Oregon 

 j uncos are present, field identification of the race innosus is no prob- 

 lem. During the ^vinte^ when other races of Oregon junco and Point 

 Pinos juncos associate together, separating them is most difficult. 

 Mrs, AmeUa S. Allen (1933) says the Sierra junco, the race thurheri, 

 is "not accurately distinguishable from the resident Point Pinos 

 junco in the field." The numerous citations in the literature for both 

 races in the San Francisco Bay region indicate some of the confusion. 

 While the Point Pinos juncos have ruddier backs than the Sierra race 

 and paler sides and heads, there is so much overlapping that only the 

 most experienced field observers can state with any accuracy whether 

 or not pinosus is present in a mixed winter flock. 



Enemies. — R. F. Johnston (1960) records this race as host to the 

 brown-headed cowbird. On Aug. 14, 1958, on the University of Cal- 

 ifornia campus at Berkeley, he watched for one-haK hour an adult fe- 

 male Oregon junco "repeatedly feed an almost fully grown, juvenal- 

 plumaged" cowbird. 



Fall and winter. — MUler (1941b) writes: "There are no records of 

 pinosus in the fall or Avdnter for localities more than a few miles from 

 the habitats occupied in the breeding season. Definition of breeding 

 areas thus indicates geographic distribution throughout the year." 



He explains the absence of migration by the fact that few places 

 in its range have a severe winter climate or any snowfall. He notes: 

 "In winter, flocks may wander into open country where there is lim- 

 ited cover in the form of isolated clumps of trees. They occur often 

 in orchards in the open valleys. Many are known to staj' on the 

 breeding territory in small flocks, possibly family groups." 



Distribution 



Range. — The Point Pinos Oregon junco is resident in the coastal 

 hills and mountains of central California from Golden Gate and Car- 

 quinez Straits to southern San Benito and Monterey counties (inter- 

 grades \vith J. 0. thurheri in San Luis Obispo County). 



