Canyon Towhee
Melozone fusca
Summary 5
The canyon towhee (Melozone fusca) is a bird of the family Emberizidae.
Description 6
It is 19 to 25 cm (7.5 to 9.8 in) long, and has a noticeably long tail, at 8.2 to 11 cm (3.2 to 4.3 in). This species weighs from 36.5 to 67 g (1.29 to 2.36 oz), though on average weigh only around 45 g (1.6 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 8.2 to 10.1 cm (3.2 to 4.0 in), the bill is 1.4 to 1.7 cm (0.55 to 0.67 in) and the tarsus is 2.3 to 2.7 cm (0.91 to 1.06 in). It is earthy brown in color, with somewhat lighter underparts and a somewhat darker head with a rufous cap (except that birds in central Mexico have the cap the same color as the back); there is also a slightly reddish area beneath the tail. There is little sexual dimorphism.
Distribution and habitat 6
The towhee is native to lower-lying areas from Arizona, southern Colorado, New Mexico and western Texas south to northwestern Oaxaca, Mexico, mostly avoiding the coasts. Its natural habitat is brush or chaparral.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Len Blumin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/9062441@N02/2112215940
- (c) Vince Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Vince Smith
- no rights reserved, uploaded by Scott Loarie
- (c) Art Mur, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Art Mur
- Adapted by Desmon M Dunn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melozone_fusca
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon_towhee
