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Myadestes townsendi

Photo by Steve Messick
Photo taken: Crow Valley Camp Ground, NE Colorado, USA

[edit] Identification

20-22 cm. Dull grey, white eyering, white outer tail feathers, buffy wing patch, short, wide, and black bill, dark grey wing feathers with wide band of buff at the base, tertials edged in white, black legs. Sexes similar. Juvenile heavily spotted all over in black, white, and buff.

[edit] Distribution

Canada and United States.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Habitat

Mountainous areas, especially in open coniferous forests. Winters from coastal areas to mountain valleys where juniper is present.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes insects, spiders, some berries. In winter eats primarily fleshy berries of junipers.

It builds a cup shaped nest of pine needles lined with grass stems or strips of bark, placed on platform of twigs on ground or cliff under an overhang, especially often along cut banks. 1-6 dull white to pink, to greenish blue, marked with numerous blotches or spots, eggs are laid.

[edit] External Links