occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: RESIDENT from western and central Arizona, northern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, extreme northwestern Oklahoma, and western and central Texas south to northern Sinaloa (including Isla Tiburon, off Sonora), and in Mexican highlands to Oaxaca (west to Isthmus of Tehuatepec), west-central Veracruz, Puebla, and southwestern Tamaulipas. Casual in northern Arizona, southwestern Kansas, and southern Texas (AOU 1983, 1989).

Length: 22 cm

Weight: 54 grams

Comments: Dense brush, arid scrub, and riparian thickets, often in rocky areas (AOU 1989). Nests usually 1-3.5 m (sometimes up to 11 m) above ground in tree or bush (Terres 1980).

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Comments: Feeds on seeds, grain, and insects. Forages on the ground scratching away litter in search of food.

Clutch size is 2-6 (usually 3-4). Incubation, by female, lasts 11 days (Terres 1980). Young are tended by both adults, leave nest 8 days after hatching. Pair-bond may be life-long.

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Comments: P. CRISSALIS formerly was included in this species (AOU 1989, Zink 1988). Allozyme and mtDNA data clearly support the species distinction of CRISSALIS and Fuscus and show that CRISSALIS is more closely related to P. ABERTI (Zink and Dittman 1991). See Dodge et al. (1995) for a comparison of phylogenies derived from two molecular data sets for the brown towhee complex (Pipilo spp.). See Banks and Browning (1995) for a discussion of nomenclatural issues involving Pipilo. Mitochondrial DNA analysis by Zink et al. (2001) show a genetic division between populations of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.