Abert's Towhee

Pipilo abertiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Codes: Common Name: ABTO Scientific Name: PIPABE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179307

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Blue white with dark brown speckling

Number of Eggs:

2 - 5

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Forbs, bark pieces, leaves, and vines., Lined with dead grasses and mammal hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

General

Abert's Towhee: Large, stocky, secretive sparrow with distinct black face, pale gray bill, gray-brown upperparts, paler gray-brown underparts and rust-brown vent. Tail is long and darker than upperparts with rust-brown undertail coverts. Sexes are similar. Juvenile underparts are paler, duller, and faintly streaked. May be difficult to spot because it perfers to stay well-hidden under bushes.

Range and Habitat

Abert's Towhee: Found primarily in the Colorado and Gila River valleys in Arizona and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. Generally prefers desert riparian and desert wash habitats. Preferred habitat includes dense vegetation, including thickets of willow, cottonwood, mesquite, and saltcedar; also found in cities or suburbs in exotic plantings.

Breeding and Nesting

Abert's Towhee: Two to five blue white eggs with dark brown speckles are laid in a nest made of forbs, bark pieces, leaves, and vines lined with dead grass and mammal hair. Nest is built in tree or bush, usually 25 to 30 feet above the ground. Female incubates eggs for about 14 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Abert's Towhee: Eats seeds and insects. Scratches in litter and gleans from the ground and shrubs, often in shade.

Readily Eats

Cracked Corn, Peanuts, Nut Meats

Vocalization

Abert's Towhee: Song is a series of 4 to 6 repetitive "peek" or "chip" notes, accelerating and dropping in pitch at the end, "chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chee, chee, chee, chee, chee." Call is a sharp, thin slightly nasal "peek", often repeated..

Similar Species

Abert's Towhee: Canyon Towhee inhabits different range, has gray upperparts, face, and sides, chestnut-brown cap, dark breast spot, necklace of dark streaks, pale chin and throat, and white belly. California Towhee is browner overall with paler chin and throat, gray necklace, and pale eye-ring.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Abert's Towhee

Abert's Towhee: Large, stocky, shy sparrow. Distinct black face, pale gray bill, gray-brown upperparts, paler gray-brown underparts, and rust-brown vent. Tail is long and darker than upperparts with rust-brown undertail coverts. Short flights, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides. May be difficult to spot because it perfers to stay well-hidden under bushes.

● Song: "chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chee, chee, chee, chee, chee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Abert's Towhee: Eats seeds and insects. Scratches in litter and gleans from the ground and shrubs, often in shade.

● Breeding & nesting: Abert's Towhee: Two to five blue white eggs with dark brown speckles are laid in a nest made of forbs, bark pieces, leaves, and vines lined with dead grass and mammal hair. Nest is built in tree or bush, usually 25 to 30 feet above the ground. Female incubates eggs for about 14 days.

● Similar species: Abert's Towhee: Canyon Towhee inhabits different range, has gray upperparts, face, and sides, chestnut-brown cap, dark breast spot, necklace of dark streaks, pale chin and throat, and white belly. California Towhee is browner overall with paler chin and throat, gray necklace, and pale eye-ring.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Range & Habitat: Abert's Towhee: Found primarily in the Colorado and Gila River valleys in Arizona and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. Generally prefers desert riparian and desert wash habitats. Preferred habitat includes dense vegetation, including thickets of willow, cottonwood, mesquite, and saltcedar; also found in cities or suburbs in exotic plantings.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1.7 Ounces

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Vent

Birds do not have two separate cavities for excrement and reproduction like humans do. In birds, there is one single entrance/exit that suits both functions called the vent, cloaca or anus.

Riparian

Relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Abert's Towhee

Breeding Location:

Breeding Type:

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Nest Material:

Migration:

Recommended Products:

General

Range and Habitat

Breeding and Nesting

Foraging and Feeding

Readily Eats

Vocalization

Similar Species

Abert's Towhee

Flight Pattern