BIRDS OF THE ST. CROIX RIVER VALLEY 



173 



Dark-eyed Junco {Junco hyemalis) 



Status: Regular migrant, nesting species, and winter resident. 



Migration: Abundant migrant throughout the Valley. Determination of 

 arrival of spring migrants in the Western Upland and Central Plain is con- 

 founded by wintering birds. The first noticeable influxes occur 1-15 March. 

 First spring migrants arrive in the Northern Highland 15-30 March. Peak 

 spring migration through the Valley occurs 30 March to 15 April and de- 

 parture from nonbreeding areas by 15 May. Fall migration begins in the 

 Northern Highland during early September. First migrants arrive in the 

 Western Upland 15-25 September. Peak fall migration occurs during Oc- 

 tober and most nonwintering birds have departed by 1 December. 



Nesting Season Distribution: Rare nesting species, restricted to the North- 

 ern Highland. Roberts (1932) reported young being fed in Pine County 

 during late June 1918, the first breeding record for the Valley. Two young 

 dark -eyed j uncos were observed in Chisago County on 16 June 1950 (Warner 

 1951). Breeding Bird Survey data (Table 8) also suggest that the breeding 

 population of this species is rather Umited in the Valley. An adult that I ob- 

 served near Deer Park, St. Croix County, on 23 June 1976 was extraUmital 

 and probably an extremely late migrant. 



Winter: Common (locally abundant) winter resident along the lower St. 

 Croix River in Pierce, St. Croix, and southern Washington counties. Rare 

 and local in the Central Plain, occasional in the Northern Highland. Christ- 

 mas Bird Count data (Table 4) show the rapid decrease in relative abundance 

 of this species moving north through the Valley during the winter. Dark- 

 eyed j uncos are well known for their attachment to the numerous winter 

 feeding stations in residential areas. 



Habitat: Primarily a species of drier upland habitats including Jack Pine 

 Barrens and mixed Northern Hardwood Forest. Roberts (1932) mentioned 

 that nesting dark -eyed j uncos are also associated with "spruce and cedar 

 swamps of the lowlands" in Pine County. Wintering dark-eyed j uncos make 

 extensive use of edge habitats, particularly hedgerows, and to a lesser ex- 

 tent several deciduous forest types, primarily Southern Deciduous Forest 

 and Lowland Deciduous Forest. 



Tree Sparrow (Spizella arhorea) 



Status: Regular migrant and winter resident. 



Migration: Abundant migrant throughout the VaUey. Fall migrants arrive 

 in the Northern Highland 5-10 October and in the Western Upland 

 10-15 October. Peak fall migration occurs 25 October to 25 November and 

 departure of most nonwintering birds occurs by 30 November. Spring 

 migrants arrive in the Northern Highland 1-10 April. Peak spring migra- 

 tion throughout the Valley occurs 10-20 April and departure by 30 April; 

 occasional stragglers Unger through 15 May. 



Winter: Fairly common (locally common) winter resident in the Western Up- 



