- Melozone aberti
Pipilo aberti
Identification
L. 7.75in
- 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
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized[1]:
- M. a. aberti:
- Deserts of southern Utah to south-western Nevada and south-eastern California
- M. a.dumeticolus:
- M. a. vorhiesi:
- Southern Arizona (Tucson region) to extreme south-western New Mexico
Was formerly placed in genus Pipilo.
Habitat
Along arroyos in desert thickets; associated with cottonwood, willow, and mesquite, although it is also found around farms, orchards, and urban areas.
Behaviour
Nesting
Three or 4 pale blue-green, scrawled eggs in a cup nest close to the ground in a bush or tree.
Diet
It feeds on insects and seeds.
Vocalisation
The call is a single bell-like note.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- 51st supplement to the AOU checklist of North American birds
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Abert's Towhee. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Abert%27s_Towhee
