Amy,

First off, congrats on the lifer! RB Nuthatch are awesome little birds,
especially if you can hear them calling. I had a semi-resident last winter
that came to my feeders daily, especially during the few days of heavy snow
we had in CoMO last January. Keep a look-out for them the rest of the
winter because some will stay behind even in bitter cold!

On the Junco question, I don't know how much you've looked into it online,
so I will go ahead and post all of this. If it's stuff you already know, I
apologize in advance.

There was a pretty big 'to-do' about Junco IDs last winter as I posted
pictures of a possible Pink-Sided Junco. Unfortunately, my lens zoom
capabilities at the time were poor, so the pictures came out pixelated...an
effect that was exacerbated by the fact it was snowing. *sigh*

Out of the ensuing conversation that developed, I found out that there are
many more sub-species and intergrades than are listed in either of my bird
books (Nat'l Geo 4th ed. and Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds 4 or 5th ed.),
and it was decided that 'at best' my spot could have been a Cassiar Junco,
one such intergrade that's less uncommon east of the Great Plains, but that
it was more than likely a female slate-colored DEJU.

These three sites were very helpful for me with DEJUs last winter. The 3rd
site especially has -pictures- of the different subspecies, which are worth
1000 words, especially words that happen to be posted on message boards.
http://www.schmoker.org/BirdPics/DEJU.html
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/JuncoID.html
http://www.oceanwanderers.com/JuncoID2.html

As the 2nd site states somewhere halfway down, there have been Pink-Sided
seen in Arkansas in winter, but they're rare...so if you can get a good
picture, it would be good either way.

Cheers and good luck!
-Chase
Columbia, Boone Co., MO
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