Towhee

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Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus).jpg
Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

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. fusca, 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, though M. fusca and M. crissalis were formerly treated as a single species. Hybrids are frequent between some of the species, particularly between the Mexican races of P. maculatus ("olive-backed towhee", P. m. macronyx) and P. ocai.

Genus Melozone:

Genus Pipilo:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern towhee</span> Species of bird

The eastern towhee, also known as chewink, joree, or joree bird, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted towhee</span> Species of bird

The spotted towhee 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 Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee. The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canyon towhee</span> Species of bird

The canyon towhee is a bird of the family Passerellidae. Until 1989, the canyon towhee and the California towhee were considered to be a single species which was called the brown towhee.

<i>Pipilo</i> Genus of birds

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California towhee</span> Species of bird

The California towhee is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to the coastal regions of western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California and Baja California Sur in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abert's towhee</span> Species of bird

Abert's towhee is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to a small range in southwestern North America, generally the lower Colorado River and Gila River watersheds, nearly endemic to Arizona, but also present in small parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Sonora in Mexico. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist James William Abert (1820–1897).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green-tailed towhee</span> Species of bird

The green-tailed towhee is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the American sparrow family Passerellidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive sparrow</span> Species of bird

The olive sparrow is a species of American sparrow in the family Passerellidae. Its range includes Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and southern Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World sparrow</span> Family of birds

New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns.

<i>Melozone</i> Genus of birds

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.

Lyperosomum intermedium is a parasitic trematode belonging to the subclass Digenea that infects the marsh rice rat. The species was first described in 1972 by Denton and Kinsella, who wrote that it was closest to Lyperosomum sinuosum, known from birds and raccoons in the United States and Brazil. Three years later, Denton and Kissinger placed the two, together with a number of other species, in a new subgenus of Lyperosomum, Sinuosoides. Species of Lyperosomum mainly infect birds; L. intermedium is one of the few species to infect a mammal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda towhee</span> Extinct species of bird

The Bermuda towhee is an extinct bird of the towhee genus Pipilo that was endemic to Bermuda.

Rufous-sided towhee may refer to two different species that were previously considered one species:

References

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