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Towhee
A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus '' Pipilo'' or '' Melozone'' within the family Passerellidae (which also includes American sparrows, and juncos). Towhees typically have longer tails than other Passerellidae. Most species tend to avoid humans, so they are not well known, though the eastern towhee ''P. erythrophthalmus'' is bolder. This species, and some others, may be seen in urban parks and gardens. There has been considerable debate over the taxonomy of the towhees in recent years. Two species complexes have been identified, the rufous-sided complex (involving ''Pipilo erythrophthalmus'', ''P. maculatus'', ''P. socorroensis'', ''P. ocai'' and ''P. chlorurus''), and the brown towhee complex (involving ''Melozone crissalis'', ''M. fuscus'', ''M. aberti'' and ''M. albicollis''). The distinction of species within these is uncertain and opinions have differed over the years. Modern authorities distinguish all four species in the brown towhee complex ...
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Eastern Towhee
The eastern towhee (''Pipilo erythrophthalmus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spotted towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across eastern North America. They nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States. There has been one record of this species as a vagrant to western Europe: a single bird in Great Britain in 1966. The song is a short ''drink your teeeeea'' lasting around one second, starting with a sharp call ("drink!") and ending with a short trill "teeeeea". The name "towhee" is onomatopoeic description of one of the towhee's most common calls, a short two-part call rising in pitch and sometimes also called a "chewink" call. Taxonomy The eastern towhee was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of h ...
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California Towhee
The California towhee (''Melozone crissalis'') is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to the coastal regions of western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California Sur in Mexico. The taxonomy of this species has been debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the group, there has been debate about whether the distinction between this species and the similar canyon towhee (''Melozone fuscus'') should be at the specific or subspecific level. The two species used to be grouped together as the brown towhee, yet today they are identified separately, especially because of their differing feather coloration, and the canyon towhee's dark central breast spot. The two populations are quite isolated from each other, and molecular genetics seems to have settled the matter in favour of two distinct species for the present. On the other hand, there seems to be little distinction between the northern and Baja Califo ...
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Spotted Towhee
The spotted towhee (''Pipilo maculatus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (''Pipilo maculatus oregonus''). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee. Individuals in the Socorro Island population are much smaller than other spotted towhees, and show distinctive gray upper-parts. That population is sometimes treated as a subspecies: the Socorro towhee (''Pipilo socorroensis''). Description The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a robin. It has a long, dark, fan-shaped tail with white corners on the end. It has a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between and long, and weighs in at between and . It has a wingspan ...
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Spotted Towhee (Pipilo Maculatus)
The spotted towhee (''Pipilo maculatus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (''Pipilo maculatus oregonus''). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee. Individuals in the Socorro Island population are much smaller than other spotted towhees, and show distinctive gray upper-parts. That population is sometimes treated as a subspecies: the Socorro towhee (''Pipilo socorroensis''). Description The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a robin. It has a long, dark, fan-shaped tail with white corners on the end. It has a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between and long, and weighs in at between and . It has a wingspa ...
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Canyon Towhee
The canyon towhee (''Melozone fusca'') is a bird of the family Passerellidae. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the group of towhees to which this species belongs is debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the genus, there has been dispute about whether the canyon towhee is a distinct species from the California towhee (''Melozone crissalis'') found in coastal regions from Oregon and California in the United States through Baja California in Mexico. At present, molecular genetics seems to have settled this issue in favour of separation of the species. Description It is long, and has a noticeably long tail, at .''Sparrows and Buntings: A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the World'' by Clive Byers & Urban Olsson. Houghton Mifflin (1995). . This species weighs from , though on average weigh only around .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . Among standard mea ...
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Green-tailed Towhee
The green-tailed towhee (''Pipilo chlorurus'') is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the American sparrow family Passerellidae. Its breeding range covers most of the interior Western United States, with a winter range in Mexico and the southern edge of the Southwestern United States. This bird can be recognized by the bright green stripes on the edge of its wings. It has a distinct white throat and a rufous cap. It measures long and weighs . It is fairly tame, but often stays hidden under a bush. It is fairly common in habitats with sagebrush and other such bushes. It is uncommonly seen because of its tendency to stay under cover. References Further reading Book * Thesis * Beedy EC. Ph.D. (1982). ''Bird Community Structure in Coniferous Forests of Yosemite National Park, California''. University of California, Davis, United States, California. * Kerley L. Ph.D. (1994). ''Bird responses to habitat fragmentation caused by sagebrush management in ...
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Collared Towhee
The collared towhee (''Pipilo ocai'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae that is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist pine-oak montane forest and heavily degraded former forest. It occupies mountainous terrain from about . This species, at , is a fairly large species. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the relatively short tail is , the bill is and the tarsus is . Males weigh from and females from . In terms of weight, and standard bill and tarsal measurements, this is the largest species of emberizid overall, although related species, including Abert's, canyon and California towhees, outrank the collared towhee in overall length, as well as tail and wing length.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . In the collared towhee, the chestnut cap, yellowish green upperparts, black cheek and breast band, gray flanks, and white chin are curiously similar to that of t ...
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Pipilo
''Pipilo'' is a genus of birds in the American sparrow family Passerellidae. It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee. Taxonomy The genus ''Pipilo'' was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with the eastern towhee as the type species. The name ''Pipilo'' is New Latin for "bunting" from ''pipilare'' "to chirp". Within the New World sparrow family Passerellidae, the genus ''Pipilo'' is sister to the larger genus ''Atlapetes ''Atlapetes'' is a genus of birds in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. The species are mainly found in montane forest from Mexico to northwestern Argentina. Taxonomy and species The genus ''Atlapetes'' was introduced in 1831 by the Ger ...''. Species The genus contains five species: References External links * * Towhee videos, photos and soundson the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q613202 Bird genera American sparrows Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot ...
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Melozone
''Melozone'' is a genus of mostly Neotropical birds in the family Passerellidae, found mainly in Mexico. Three species reach as far north as the southwestern United States, two species reach as far south as Costa Rica, and two are endemic to Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate .... It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee. Species The following species are in the genus ''Melozone'': References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1080266 Melozone, Bird genera American sparrows Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach Taxa described in 1850 ...
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Bermuda Towhee
The Bermuda towhee (''Pipilo naufragus'') is an extinct passerine of the towhee genus ''Pipilo'' that was confined to Bermuda. It was a large member of the genus and closely related to the eastern towhee. The scientific description was in 2012, based on Pleistocene and Holocene remains from Quaternary cave deposits. 38 bones from at least five individuals are known. An old travel report by William Strachey William Strachey (4 April 1572 – buried 21 June 1621) was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America. He is best remembered today as the eye-witness reporter o ... who was shipwrecked on Bermuda from 1609 to 1610 might refer to this species. He wrote in 1625: References *Olson, Storrs L.; Wingate, David B. (2012). "A new species of towhee (Aves: Emberizidae: Pipilo) from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125 (1): 85–96. *Olson, Storrs ...
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White-throated Towhee
The white-throated towhee (''Melozone albicollis'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae that is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It .... References {{Taxonbar, from=Q1935552 White-throated Towhee Birds of Mexico Endemic birds of Mexico white-throated towhee white-throated towhee Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur ...
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