View source for Junco

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{other uses}}
{{hatnote|"Junco" is also a shrub in the genus ''[[Adolphia]]'' and the Spanish term for [[Juncus|rush]]es (genus ''Juncus'').}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2022}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| italic_title = no
| name = Juncos
| image = Junco hyemalis hyemalis CT2.jpg
| image_caption = Slate-colored dark-eyed junco (''[[Junco hyemalis|Junco hyemalis hyemalis]]'') female, [[:en:Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area|Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area]], Quebec, Canada
| taxon = Junco
| authority = [[Johann Georg Wagler|Wagler]], 1831
| type_species = ''Junco phaeonotus'' ([[yellow-eyed junco]])
| type_species_authority = [[Johann Georg Wagler|Wagler]], 1831
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = {{ubl|''[[Junco hyemalis]]''|''[[Junco insularis]]''|''[[Junco phaeonotus]]''|''[[Junco bairdi]]''|''[[Junco vulcani]]''|(See text)}}
}}
[[File:Pink sided junco 1300x950.jpg|thumb|A pink-sided dark-eyed junco in Elizabeth, Colorado]]

A '''junco''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ʌ|ŋ|k|oʊ}}), [[genus]] '''''Junco''''', is a small North American bird in the [[New World sparrow]] family Passerellidae. Junco [[systematics]] are still confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve [[species]]. Despite having a name that appears to derive from the Spanish term for the plant genus ''[[Juncus]]'' (rushes), these birds are seldom found among rush plants, which prefer wet ground, while juncos prefer dry soil.

Their breeding habitat is [[conifer]]ous or mixed forest areas throughout North America, ranging from subarctic [[taiga]] to high-altitude mountain forests in Mexico and Central America south to Panama. Northern birds usually [[Bird migration|migrate]] farther south; southern populations are permanent residents or altitudinal migrants, moving only a short distance downslope to avoid severe winter weather in the mountains.

These birds forage on the ground. In winter, they often forage in flocks. They eat mainly insects and seeds. They usually nest in a well-hidden location on the ground or low in a shrub or tree.

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Junco'' was introduced in 1831 by the German naturalist [[Johann Georg Wagler]] for a single species, the [[yellow-eyed junco]].<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Wagler | first=Johann Georg | author-link=Johann Georg Wagler | year=1831 | title=Einige Mittheilungen über Thiere Mexicos | journal=Isis von Oken | volume=1831 | at=Col 510–535 [526]| language=German, Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27512950 }}</ref> The yellow-eyed junco is therefore now the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1970 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=13 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=62 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483297 }}</ref> The genus name is from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|iuncus}} meaning 'rush'.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=212 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n212/mode/1up }}</ref>

The genus contains five species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2022 | title=New World Sparrows, Bush Tanagers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sparrows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 February 2022}}</ref>
{{Species table |genus= Junco  |authority-name=Wagler |authority-year=1831 |species-count=five|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[dark-eyed junco]] |binomial=[[Junco hyemalis]]
|image=File:Dark-eyed Junco, Washington State 02.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year= 1758|authority-not-original=yes
|range= [[temperate climate|temperate]] North America
|range-image=File:Junco hyemalis map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Guadalupe junco]]  |binomial=[[Junco insularis]]
|image=File:Junco insularis Pau Aleixandre.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Ridgway|authority-year= 1876 |authority-not-original=
|range= once the entirety of Guadalupe Island, now restricted to the northern part 
|range-image=
|range-image-size=
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= EN
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[yellow-eyed junco]] |binomial=[[Junco phaeonotus]]
|image=File:Yellow-eyed Junco.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Wagler|authority-year=1831 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= 
|range-image=File:Junco phaeonotus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Baird's junco]] |binomial=[[Junco bairdi]]
|image=File:Junco bairdi, Sierra de la Laguna, Baja California Sur 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Ridgway|authority-year=1883 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  [[Sierra de la Laguna]] (southern Baja California peninsula, Mexico)
|range-image=
|range-image-size=
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[volcano junco]] |binomial=[[Junco vulcani]]
|image=File:Volcano Junco.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Boucard |authority-year= 1878|authority-not-original=yes
|range= Costa Rica and western Panama 
|range-image=File:Junco vulcani map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=

}}
{{Species table/end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikispecies-inline}}

{{Passeroidea|E.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q857319}}

[[Category:Junco| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:American sparrows]]
[[Category:Birds of North America]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler]]