
20240715_zsp_s280_001
July 15, 2024, Santa Clara, California, USA: California Towhee: common but low-key birds found throughout the Tehachapi Mountains.One of the most ubiquitous birds in the outlying areas of Tehachapi is also one that you more often hear than see: the California Towhee. It is hard to get a good look at these grayish brown birds with their muted color because they seldom perch openly in a prominent place..California Towhees (Melozone crissalis) are a type of large sparrow that is most at home in chaparral and areas with lots of shrubs and trees. If you go out for a walk along a quiet road or hike on a trail, California Towhees will sometimes fly just ahead of you, flitting from one low branch down into another shrub, so it's hard to see them clearly. Try to get a better look at one, and they tend to just melt into the brush..California Towhees will visit backyard seed feeders, especially in the wintertime. They often spend their time on the ground underneath feeders, picking up seeds that other birds have spilled..Both male and female California Towhees are uniformly grayish brown overall, but they have a rusty tinge around their eye and bill, and also a distinctive fawn or orangey russet color underneath their tails, which are proportionately longer than most songbirds. The sound you hear most often from Towhees is often described as a metallic chip. (Credit Image: © Seshadri Sukumar/ZUMA Press Wire)
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