Most sparrows are brown in color, but as winter approaches slate-colored Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) move into our area from locations farther north. This past Friday I spotted a small flock of juncos at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge poking about on the ground and low in the trees and managed to capture a few clear shots of juncos.
The second shot shows quite clearly the color pattern that I generally associate with juncos—mostly gray with a white belly. On the west coast of the US, however, juncos have a dark brown hood, light brown back, and a white belly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
So cute 🙂
I love these little birds!
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Nice Mike!
Great shots, Mike. We seldom see Juncos during migration here in Florida.
Might be my favorite small bird 👏👏👏. Great shots.
In that first shot, he looks like he has something to say, Mike.
He was probably ask me to leave them in peace so they could continue their foraging.
I did not know that about western juncos. Here, we generally see them just before a snowstorm, meaning we haven’t seen many these past few years, but I also noticed a small flock of them across the street just yesterday. I think their nickname is snowbirds. They often associate with titmice and chickadees. I love them.
We have them here in that second coloration.