California Towhee

Pipilo crissalisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Mountains, Scrub vegetation areas

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Common in range

Egg Color:

Light blue or green with brown and black markings

Number of Eggs:

2 - 6

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Bark, sticks, weeds, and grass., Lined with mammal hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

Overview

California Towhee: Large sparrow, uniform brown-gray body, faintly streaked underparts, buff throat bordered with dark streaks. Tail is long with cinnamon-brown undertail coverts. Pink-brown legs and feet. Short flights with rapid beating wing strokes alternating with wings pulled briefly to sides.

Range and Habitat

California Towhee: Resident in coastal and foothill chaparral from Oregon to southern Baja California. Preferred habitats include shady underbrush, open woods, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and suburban gardens.

Breeding and Nesting

California Towhee: Two to six light blue or green eggs, with brown and black markings, are laid in a cup nest built low in a bush or young tree. Eggs are incubated for approximately 11 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

California Towhee: Diet consists of seeds, grain, and insects. Forages in open, but usually prefers cover, quietly double-scratching on the ground under foliage, outdoor buildings, and fences.

Readily Eats

Cracked Corn, Peanuts, Nut Meats

Vocalization

California Towhee: Song is a series of squeaky chips on same pitch, accelerating into a rapid trill; pattern varies according to geographical area. Call is a sharp "chink" or thin "tseeee."

Similar Species

California Towhee: Canyon Towhee has a rust-brown crown and grayer upperparts. Abert's Towhee is buff and has a black area around bill.

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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.

California Towhee

● Song: "chink", "tseeee"

● Foraging & Feeding: California Towhee: Diet consists of seeds, grain, and insects. Forages in open, but usually prefers cover, quietly double-scratching on the ground under foliage, outdoor buildings, and fences.

● Breeding & nesting: California Towhee: Two to six light blue or green eggs, with brown and black markings, are laid in a cup nest built low in a bush or young tree. Eggs are incubated for approximately 11 days by the female.

● Similar species: California Towhee: Canyon Towhee has a rust-brown crown and grayer upperparts. Abert's Towhee is buff and has a black area around bill.

Flight Pattern

Short flights wih rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: California Towhee: Resident in coastal and foothill chaparral from Oregon to southern Baja California. Preferred habitats include shady underbrush, open woods, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and suburban gardens.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationCommon in range

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1.9 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America