Bird watching: a tale of two juncos

Self-tutoring about bird watching: the tutor mentions a junco sighting.

I often see Oregon dark-eyed juncos. Today, two came near a window I was sitting by, so I could observe them, it seemed, without their noticing me.

I love to see Oregon dark-eyed juncos, so I was delighted. After maybe half a minute, I realized the two were different somehow, but didn’t know exactly what the difference was. Then, I realized one was lacking noticeable tail feathers. For reference, I could compare it to the other, which had tail feathers. Both were flitting around as birds do, one just as the other.

Apparently, birds can regrow tail feathers. Perhaps the one without them escaped something, but will replace its tail feathers soon.

Source:

allaboutbirds.org

lafeber.com