California Towhee

Pipilo crissalis

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family EMBERIZIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A large, dully marked, ground-foraging sparrow, the California Towhee is a characteristic bird of chaparral and underbrush in oak woodlands of California. It occurs in remote backcountry habitats, but also is common in urban and suburban areas.

Cool Facts

• The California Towhee was previously lumped with the Canyon Towhee into the Brown Towhee. Evidence suggests that it actually is more closely related to Abert's Towhee than the Canyon Towhee.

• The California Towhee is not migratory, but it makes limited movements uphill after breeding, from chaparral into the lower mountain slopes in California. In winter, it moves downslope from higher elevations during bad weather.

• The Inyo California Towhee is restricted to riparian habitat in the Argus Mountains of central California. It is threatened by the destruction of the habitat, largely the result of foraging by feral burros.

Description

• Size: 21-25 cm (8-10 in)
• Wingspan: 29 cm (11 in)
• Weight: 37-67 g (1.31-2.37 ounces)

• Medium-sized songbird.
• Drab brown overall.
• Long tail.
• Bill short, thick, and pointed.

• Wings, tail, and crown slightly darker brown than body.
• Crown may be tinged with reddish.
• Face, throat, and undertail coverts cinnamon brown.
• Malar region and throat marked with dusky streaks or spots.
• Eyes orangish brown.
• Legs grayish pink.
• Bill dusky with pale gray base to lower mandible.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar in plumage, male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but slightly paler and more uniformly colored, lacking strong cinnamon tones on face or under tail, and with indistinct streaking on underparts.

Similar Species

• Abert's Towhee has blackish mask, pinkish-gray underparts, and paler plumage.
• Canyon Towhee has contrasting reddish crown, whitish belly, dark central breast-spot, paler buffy color on face, and paler gray plumage; does not overlap in range.
• California Thrasher has long down-curved bill.

Sound

Song an accelerating series of "tsip" notes; may drop in pitch near end. Call note a loud "tsip."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from southern Oregon southward along coast through California to tip of Baja California.

Habitat

Primarily chaparral, but found in wide array of upland and riparian habitats; typically not desert.

Food

Seeds and some insects.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages primarily on ground. Digs in litter with characteristic two-footed backwards hop.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nests in tree or shrub; rarely on ground. Nest a poorly constructed open cup of twigs and grasses, lined with hair, bark, or seed down.

Egg Description

Pale bluish white, sparsely spotted with dark brown, mostly concentrated at larger end.

Clutch Size

2-5 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and with only sparse down.

Conservation Status

Little change in populations over time. Inyo California Towhee of the Argus Mountains is federally classified as Threatened.

Other Names

Tohi de Californie (French)
Toqui californiano (Spanish)
Brown Towhee (in part) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Kunzmann, M. R., K. Ellison, K. L. Purcell, R. R. Johnson, and L. T. Haight. 2002. California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis). In The Birds of North America, No. 632 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.