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Melozone fusca

(Swainson, 1827)

Canyon Towhee

G5Secure Found in 48 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100004
Element CodeABPBX74040
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyPasserellidae
GenusMelozone
Synonyms
Kieneria fusca(Swainson, 1827)Pipilo fuscusSwainson, 1827
Other Common Names
canyon towhee (EN) Tohi des canyons (FR) Toquí Pardo (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Mitochondrial genetic data (DaCosta et al. 2009) have shown that the genus Pipilo comprised two unrelated groups, one consisting of ocai, chlorurus, maculatus, and erythrophthalmus, the other of the "brown towhee" group: fuscus, albicollis, crissalis, and aberti. The same study revealed that Melozone kieneri forms a monophyletic group with the brown towhees, and that M. leucotis and M. biarcuata are closely related to this group. Although DaCosta et al. (2009) suggested that kieneri, fuscus, albicollis, crissalis, and aberti be transferred to the genus Pyrgisoma, thereby splitting Melozone kieneri from its congeners, we have taken a more conservative approach, consistent with phenotypic similarities between M. kieneri and M. biarcuata (e.g, they were treated as conspecific by Hellmayr [1938]), and merged the brown towhees into Melozone (AOU 2010).
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-04
Change Date1996-12-04
Range Extent Comments
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).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

See Zimmer (1988) for information on identification.

Habitat

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).

Reproduction

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.
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparral
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
TexasS5BYes
ColoradoS4Yes
KansasSNAYes
Navajo NationS4BYes
New MexicoS4Yes
ArizonaS5Yes
OklahomaS3Yes
Roadless Areas (48)
Arizona (21)
AreaForestAcres
Black CanyonPrescott National Forest10,683
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
BoulderTonto National Forest40,359
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
GaliuroCoronado National Forest28,333
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Lime CreekTonto National Forest42,568
Lower Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest1,165
Lower San FranciscoApache-Sitgreaves National Forests59,310
MazatzalTonto National Forest16,942
Middle Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest10,543
Middle Romero WSRCoronado National Forest60
Oracle RoadlessCoronado National Forest22,365
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
Upper Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,533
Upper Romero WsrCoronado National Forest150
Walker MountainCoconino National Forest6,382
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
New Mexico (27)
AreaForestAcres
Alamo CanyonSanta Fe National Forest8,639
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Black CanyonSanta Fe National Forest1,922
Bull CanyonCarson National Forest11,512
CajaSanta Fe National Forest5,304
Candian RiverCibola National Forest7,149
Capitan MountainsLincoln National Forest14,069
Chama WS RiverSanta Fe National Forest4,168
Contiguous To Black & Aldo Leopold WildernessGila National Forest111,883
Contiguous To Gila Wilderness & Primitive AreaGila National Forest79,049
Gila BoxGila National Forest23,759
Guaje CanyonSanta Fe National Forest6,104
Juan de Gabaldon GrantSanta Fe National Forest8,023
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Lower San FranciscoGila National Forest26,460
Meadow CreekGila National Forest34,167
Nichols ReservoirSanta Fe National Forest1,518
Ortega PeakLincoln National Forest11,545
Pacheco CanyonSanta Fe National Forest1,012
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
RendijaSanta Fe National Forest2,176
Sawyers PeakGila National Forest59,743
Scott MesaCibola National Forest39,515
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
Tesuque CreekSanta Fe National Forest810
Thompson PeakSanta Fe National Forest33,001
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
References (25)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1989. Thirty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American birds. Auk 106:532-538.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  4. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2010. Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 127(3):726-744.
  5. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  6. Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648.
  7. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  8. Davis, J. 1951. Distribution and variation of the brown towhee. Univ. California Publ. Zool., Berkeley.
  9. Dodge, A. G., A. J. Fry, R. C. Blackwell, and R. M. Zink. 1995. Comparison of phylogenies derived from two molecular data sets in the avian genera PIPILO and SPIZELLA. Wilson Bulletin 107:641-654.
  10. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  11. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  12. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  13. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  14. Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
  15. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  16. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  17. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  18. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  19. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  20. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  21. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  22. Zimmer, K. J. 1988. The brown towhee complex. Birding 20:129-136.
  23. Zink, R. K., and D. L. Dittman. 1991. Evolution of brown towhees: mitochondrial DNA evidence. Condor 93:98-105.
  24. Zink, R. M. 1988. Evolution of brown towhees: allozymes, morphometrics and species limits. Condor 90:72-82.
  25. Zink, R. M., E. Kessen, T. V. Line, and R. C. Blackwell-Rago. 2001. Comparative phylogeography of some aridland bird species. Condor 103: 1031-10.