This question may be regional - it concerns dark eyed juncos

[Minimus]

My mother kept talking about snow birds and she says that whenever you see a bunch of them that it will snow.

I was totally confused because in NC there are no "snow birds". Then one day she showed me the bird she was talking about and it was a dark eyed junco.

Has anyone else ever heard them referred to as snow birds or is this a southern thing? Mom and others around here (aunts, uncles, friends, etc.)insist that this is true and they have heard them called snow birds since they were children.

Old wives tale?:shrug:

I must add that I too have noticed an abundance of juncos at my feeders right before it snows or ices.

[Freebird12004]

1. yes, I have heard New Yorkers call them snow birds, too

The Dark Eyed Junkos are busy at my feeders all winter long no matter what the weather.

[semillama]

2. Probably has something to do with their migration

I wouldn't be surprised if these guys first show up ahead of cold fronts coming down from the north, which would bring the chance of a snow storm as well.

[blindpig]

3. winter regulars around here

appear a little later than some, about mid November. Seems like quite a few species aren't exactly wild about feeders but will make use of them when weather and forage conditions dictate. Juncos at my place will not perch on feeder but profit by the mess on the ground below.

[Quakerfriend]

4. Yes, I'm near Phila., and my mother

always ref'd to junkos as snowbirds.

I do notice them at my feeder a lot more when it snows!

[harper]

5. I'm from KC MO and my folks call them snow birds

I think because they show up in winter. Course my dad also talks about a bird they called a "rain crow". I'm at a loss to figure that one out.

[BeFree]

8. Rain Crow

The Yellow-Billed Cuckoo lets loose a string of coos as an imminent rainstorm approaches. When you hear it you'll know to take cover soon.

Snow birds spend their summers in the high peaks around here and are mainly seen in the lower lands during winter. They are Dark Eyed Juncos around these parts, in Florida they are the yankees who winter there.

[BeFree]

9. Check that: "Coos" from the Rain Crow!

Now I remember, the sound the Cuckoo makes is more like a shouting 'Krakow' over and over again. An announcement of the approaching downpour, spread loudly through the woods.

I actually heard it one time and wondered what the hell it was. Later, reading up on me birds, I came across the description from an ornithologist.

My books being not handy at present, it occurs to me that I may still be a bit mistaken. Anybody have the written word handy? Would love to read it again, maybe for the first time? LOL

[amazona]

6. snow birds in SE Louisiana

I think they are called "snow birds" down here because they show up in winter, just like the human "snow birds" who come in their RVs. They do not indicate ice or snow, they are presumably fleeing from it. I don't see them in my yard every year.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[laylah]

7. My friend who grew up in Indiana

called them "snowbirds". Like you, I was puzzled until she identified them to me (what I have always known as a junco). I was raised in Illinois but don't remember them being referred to anything but "junco".

Jenn

[mourningdove92]

10. I love Juncos. Yes, my SO refers to them as snow birds. That

was the first time I had heard that term.

[Gogi]

11. We call them snow birds in eastern MO.

They migrate from the arctic in the winter. Little birdies range all the way over the Aleutions into Russia during the summer.

[Zenlitened]

12. I think I spotted one yesterday (3/13) just after a big snowstorm in Mass.

Granted, I'm new at bird ID... but I had a good long look at it, noting body shape, beak shape, coloration... and was able to check my field guide immediately afterward.

:)

[Jamastiene]

13. There is a song called Snowbirds by Anne Murray.

It's quite common to call them that. Usually it is true in the south that when you see them it is probably going to snow soon, or at least that has been my experience.