Green-tailed Towhees are large sparrows but small for towhees. They are gray with olive-green wings, backs, and tails, and they have a red crown.
- Pipilo chlorurus
- Length: 7.25 in (18.4 cm)
- Weight: 0.8-1.4 oz (21.5-39.4 g)
Range
Green-tailed Towhees breed in western US states and migrate to southwestern US states and Mexico for winter. They are common in the mountainous west in summer.
Habitat And Diet
You can find Green-tailed Towhees on the ground in dense shrubby vegetation in summer and desert grasslands and thickets, often near streams, in winter. They eat seeds, insects, and berries.
Green-tailed Towhee Sounds:
Their song is a pleasant series of whistles and slight buzzing.
Nests
Nests of Green-tailed Towhees are low in dense vegetation and are built by females from twigs, bark, and other plant material and lined with soft grass and animal hair.
They lay up to five eggs which take just under two weeks to hatch and around a further two weeks for the young to leave the nest.
Fun Fact:
Female Green-tailed Towhees distract potential predators by quietly leaving the nest and then running around with their tails raised near the nest predator.
