Abert’s Towhee
Melozone aberti
eBird describes the Abert’s Towhee like this: Large, plain, long-tailed sparrow. Drab grayish-brown overall, with dark mask like a Northern Cardinal. Also note pinkish bill and orange undertail coverts. Inhabits riparian corridors, especially in dense brush. Mainly occurs in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, barely extending into surrounding states and northern Mexico. Rather secretive as it forages on the ground for seeds and insects. Visits feeders. All About Birds gives this additional information about the Abert’s Towhee: Matching its arid surroundings, the sandy brown Abert’s Towhee dwells in dense brush along rivers and streams of the Sonoran Desert. This large sparrow does not migrate, spending all year in the understory of cottonwood-willow forests and mesquite bosques (woodlands), as well as in some suburban landscapes. It’s closely related to the California and Canyon Towhees and shares those species’ rusty-red undertail, but a small blackish patch around the bill sets it apart, along with range differences.
I encountered my first Abert’s Towhee on the morning of May 21, 2021 at the Sweetwater Wetlands north of Tucson, Arizona. When I first spotted this nondescript bird, I wasn’t sure what it was or if it was new to me. I did get some decent pictures and was able to make a positive identification. For the blog post that includes my visit to Sweetwater Wetlands and my sighting of the Abert’s Towhee, look here.
“Cool Facts” About the Abert’s Towhee From All About Birds:
- Abert’s Towhees are sedentary birds that live out their lives in small, permanent territories. Even so, young birds do disperse after the breeding season, and sometimes turn up out of range. Individuals have recently been found in southern Sonora, Mexico, well outside of their known range.
- Abert’s Towhee pairs generally remain bonded for life. This strong pair bond means they’re ready to go whenever environmental conditions are good for nesting. In the desert, that means they can take advantage of unpredictable rains that stimulate plant and insect activity.
- According to DNA analyses of the three brown towhees of the American Southwest, California and Abert’s are the most closely related, even though California and Canyon towhees were once considered a single species.
- Abert’s Towhee was named by Spencer Baird in 1852 for Lt. Col. James William Abert (1820–1897), a U.S. Army officer in the Topographical Engineers who obtained the first specimen during a survey of New Mexico at the end of the Mexican War.
- The oldest Abert’s Towhee on record was a male, at least 8 years and 11 months old when he was recaptured and re-released during a banding operation in Arizona.