I was pretty happy to see a Dark-eyed Junco partaking in the sumac fruit today near home! This is a bird and natural food combination I had never witnessed before, and the fact that I was able to pull off a photo at all, made me quite happy. These are pretty tall shrubs and I'd estimate the Junco was about 25 feet up, so I had to find any opening through a LOT of branches to catch this. I will have to go back through older photos and determine now just how many different bird species I've seen eating sumac. I had no idea Juncos would do so, especially since they usually prefer to forage on the ground. Hennepin County, MN 02/09/25

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Some nice colors on this Dark-eyed Junco that match the fallen leaves. Hennepin County, MN 01/11/25

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Some nice colors on this Dark-eyed Junco that match the fallen leaves. Hennepin County, MN 01/11/25

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Dark-eyed Junco at Hillside Cemetery in NE Minneapolis. Hennepin County, MN 03/05/24

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The usual suspects. If you ever tire of common winter birds, my advice is to observe them on sunny days when you can see how colorful they really are. Hennepin County, MN 02/15/24

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