- Melozone aberti
Pipilo aberti
Identification
20–23 cm (7¾-9 in)
- Conical bill
- Dark eye
- Brown upperparts
- Buffy underparts
- Rusty undertail coverts
- Long tail
Sexes are similar.
Juvenile: (Spring to Fall)
- Lightly spotted below.
Similar Species
While related to and closely resembling the California and Canyon Towhees, this towhee is paler, more secretive, and has a different song. It has a black area around the base of the bill and is buffier overall.
The three do not interbreed, even though their ranges overlap.
Distribution
Resident in southern and western Arizona, parts of neighboring Utah, New Mexico, and California, southward into Baja California and Sonora in Mexico.
Taxonomy
Was formerly placed in genus Pipilo.
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized[1]:
- M. a. aberti:
- Deserts of southern Utah to south-western Nevada and south-eastern California
- M. a.dumeticola:
- M. a. vorhiesi:
- Southern Arizona (Tucson region) to extreme south-western New Mexico
Habitat
Along arroyos in desert thickets; associated with cottonwood, willow, and mesquite, although it is also found around farms, orchards, and urban areas.
Behaviour
Breeding
Three or 4 pale blue-green, scrawled eggs in a cup nest, built by the female, close to the ground in a bush or tree.
Diet
They feed on insects and seeds.
Vocalisation
The call is a single bell-like note.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 51st supplement to the AOU checklist of North American birds
- Birdforum Member observations
- Rising, J. (2019). Abert's Towhee (Melozone aberti). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/62019 on 19 August 2019).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Abert's Towhee. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Abert%27s_Towhee
External Links
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