Abert's Towhee

Abert's Towhee is a plain, medium-large sparrow relative of the desert Southwest, warm grayish-brown overall with a subtly buffier belly and rusty undertail, distinguished from other plain towhees by a neat black patch surrounding the base of the bill (a face mask). This mask, along with the species' restriction to dense riparian vegetation, sets it apart from the similarly drab California and Canyon Towhees.

The bird has a long tail and a stout, pale conical bill typical of the towhee group, and tends to stay low and well hidden within thick brush along desert waterways.

Key field marks

• Plain warm grayish-brown body with a buffier belly
• Black patch/mask around the base of the bill
• Rusty undertail coverts
• Long tail, often held cocked, and a pale conical bill

Similar species

• Canyon Towhee and California Towhee both lack the black facial mask that distinguishes Abert's Towhee, and generally favor drier, more open habitat rather than dense riparian thickets.
• No other towhee sharing its restricted Sonoran Desert riparian range shows the same black-masked face.

Abert's Towhee is largely restricted to the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Mexico, where it depends heavily on dense mesquite bosques and other riparian thickets along desert rivers, streams, and washes, as well as adjacent suburban areas with dense landscaping.

The species is non-migratory and sedentary, and because it depends so closely on riparian vegetation, a habitat type that has been heavily reduced by water diversion and development across the Southwest, its distribution is patchier than that of the more widespread Canyon and California Towhees.

Abert's Towhees forage on the ground within dense cover, scratching through leaf litter and soil for insects and seeds, and are quite shy, generally staying hidden within thick vegetation rather than venturing into the open.

The call is a sharp, distinctive, ringing "peek" or "seek," often given repeatedly, and pairs may give duetting squeal notes similar to other Melozone towhees. Diet includes insects and seeds foraged from the ground. Nests are bulky cups built low in dense shrubs or small trees within riparian thickets, with typical clutches of two to four eggs.