Junco hyemalis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PASSERIFORMES	EMBERIZIDAE

Scientific Name:

Junco hyemalis

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Dark-eyed Junco

Taxonomic Notes:

Junco hyemalis and J. insularis (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) are lumped into J. hyemalis following AOU (1998).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Justification:
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History:

2009	–	Least Concern
2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Not Recognized
2000	–	Not Recognized
1994	–	Not Recognized
1988	–	Not Recognized

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The subspecies insularis is endemic to Guadalupe Island, 280 km west of Baja California, Mexico, where it was once common and among the island's most abundant birds. It is now patchily distributed in the north of the island.
Countries:	Native: Bahamas; Bermuda; Canada; Cayman Islands; Mexico; Puerto Rico; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Turks and Caicos Islands; United States Vagrant: Denmark; Gibraltar; Iceland; Ireland; Jamaica; Norway; Poland; Russian Federation; United Kingdom; Virgin Islands, U.S.
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population Trend:	Stable

Population Trend:

Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Systems:

Systems:

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	As a whole, the species is not under immediate threat, but the subspecies J. h. insularis has been threatened by extremely intense grazing by goats. The largest tract of remnant cypress forest on Guadalupe Island was c.3 km long in 1971, but only c.1 km by 1988. Smaller forest patches presumably experience similar intense grazing, leading to a total lack of regeneration. Feral cats were common in 1988 and presumably prey upon this species. Numbers have increased in recent years owing to habitat management and the culling of goats.

Major Threat(s):

As a whole, the species is not under immediate threat, but the subspecies J. h. insularis has been threatened by extremely intense grazing by goats. The largest tract of remnant cypress forest on Guadalupe Island was c.3 km long in 1971, but only c.1 km by 1988. Smaller forest patches presumably experience similar intense grazing, leading to a total lack of regeneration. Feral cats were common in 1988 and presumably prey upon this species. Numbers have increased in recent years owing to habitat management and the culling of goats.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway In the context of J. h. insularis, Guadalupe is designated as a biosphere reserve (S. N. G. Howell in litt. 1998), but historically there has been little active management (Mirsky 1976. 5. Stattersfield et al. 1998). Nearly 35,000 goats were removed in 1970 and 1971, but in the late 1990s numbers were still estimated at 10,000 individuals (Stattersfield et al. 1998). There is apparently governmental interest in eradicating introduced predators and herbivores (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999), and non-governmental organisations in the region are developing the capacity to undertake eradication programmes on such large islands (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999). There is potential for the removal of these introduced species by 2010 (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999). Conservation Actions Proposed The following measures have been proposed for the conservation of J. h. insularis: Eradicate goats and cats from the island (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999). Survey to provide a more recent assessment of the population size and remaining habitat.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
In the context of J. h. insularis, Guadalupe is designated as a biosphere reserve (S. N. G. Howell in litt. 1998), but historically there has been little active management (Mirsky 1976. 5. Stattersfield et al. 1998). Nearly 35,000 goats were removed in 1970 and 1971, but in the late 1990s numbers were still estimated at 10,000 individuals (Stattersfield et al. 1998). There is apparently governmental interest in eradicating introduced predators and herbivores (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999), and non-governmental organisations in the region are developing the capacity to undertake eradication programmes on such large islands (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999). There is potential for the removal of these introduced species by 2010 (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999).

Conservation Actions Proposed
The following measures have been proposed for the conservation of J. h. insularis: Eradicate goats and cats from the island (B. Tershy and B. Keitt in litt. 1999). Survey to provide a more recent assessment of the population size and remaining habitat.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Junco hyemalis. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2013.
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