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Yellow-eyed Junco

The Yellow-eyed Junco (Junco phaeonotus) is a species of junco, a group of small New World sparrows.

Its range is primarily in Mexico, extending into some of the mountains of the southern tips of the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico. It is not generally migratory, but sometimes moves to nearby lower elevations during winter. The female lays three to five pale gray or bluish-white eggs in an open nest of dried grass two to three times a year. Incubation takes 15 days, and when hatched, the chicks are ready to leave the nest two weeks later. This bird's diet consists mainly of seeds, berries and insects.

Similar to the situation the dark-eyed junco is in, this species' systematics are still in need of much research before it can be considered resolved. Four subspecies are usually recognized. They are, from north to south:

Arizona Yellow-eyed Junco (J. p, palliatus)
High mountains of southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and northern Mexico.

Mexican Yellow-eyed Junco (J. p. phaeonotus)
High mountains from Jalisco to Hidalgo, Veracruz and Oaxaca in central and southern Mexico.

Chiapas Yellow-eyed Junco (J. p. fulvescens)
High mountains of the interior of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico.

Guatemalan Yellow-eyed Junco (J. p. alticola).[5]
High mountains of southeastern Chiapas in southeastern Mexico and Guatemala.

Yellow-eyed Junco

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