A sure sign of winter in the Northeast is the arrival of the charming little dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) with their grey upper bodies and white underbellies. I have read that penguins employ this strategy so that they match the sky from below and the depths from above. What’s the deal here?

For me the juncos are a reminder of my youth in New York City. I remember watching them on cold winter days pecking away for seeds and crumbs on the ground – hard cold pavement. Perhaps because of their contrasting stark shades of white and grey they were more beautiful than the native sparrows.

It is hard to believe that the junco considers New England a more hospitable place to winter than Canada and Alaska, where they go to breed in summer. It is the biological paradigm that “everything is relative!” Figure 1 shows one that I encountered at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in about the same spot, where I photographed the bluebird of my last blog.

Canon T2i with EF 100-40 mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens at 260 mmISO 1600 Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/640 th sec at f/5.6 with no exposure compensation.