Here in Scappoose, the most common of the common winter-time birds is the Oregon race of the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. All through the coldest months, these little black, grey, and buff-colored birds can be seen busily foraging on the ground for seeds, all-the-while emitting their characteristic “clicking” vocalization; which is perhaps why it struck me so strangely to notice them recently on the eaves of our roof-line seeming to explore the Christmas lights.
Looking across the street at our neighbor’s home I noticed the same behavior – many juncos making regular forays up from the ground to the roof of that house and following the wires of the Christmas lights strung along its roof-line. My first thought was that, just as House Sparrows, Passer domesticus, have learned to forage on the grills of automobiles in parking lots for well-toasted insects, perhaps the juncos were finding a similar treat attracted and then cooked by the bulbs of the Christmas light strands. However as juncos are well-known to have a diet primarily comprised of seeds, switching to insects only during the breeding season, this idea didn’t seem to pass muster.
Thus, for the moment at least, I’m at a loss as to the reason for this curious junco behavior. If anyone else has observed it and has an idea of what might be attracting these busy little ground feeders up to the roof eaves, I’d be very interested to learn of it.
