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Melozone crissalis

(Vigors, 1839)

California Towhee

G4Apparently Secure (G4G5) Found in 75 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
PSESA Status
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102324
Element CodeABPBX74070
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
USESAPS
Synonyms
Pipilo crissalis(Vigors, 1839)
Other Common Names
California towhee (EN) Tohi de Californie (FR) Toquí Californiano (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 southwestern Oregon south through California (from western slopes of Sierra Nevada and Argus Range westward, and west of southeastern desert region) south to southern Baja California. Accidental on Todos Santos Island, off Baja California (AOU 1983, 1989).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

See Zimmer (1988) for information on identification.

Habitat

Broken chaparral, brushy woodland, riparian thickets, hedgerows, and gardens (AOU 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - HardwoodShrubland/chaparralSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN4
ProvinceRankNative
OregonS4Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
Roadless Areas (75)
California (72)
AreaForestAcres
AgnewSequoia National Forest9,561
AntimonyLos Padres National Forest40,911
Arroyo SecoAngeles National Forest4,703
Barker ValleyCleveland National Forest11,940
Bear MountainLos Padres National Forest913
Black ButteLos Padres National Forest5,116
Black Mtn.Sequoia National Forest15,102
Cactus Springs BSan Bernardino National Forest3,106
CajonSan Bernardino National Forest7,548
CamuesaLos Padres National Forest8,209
ChannellSequoia National Forest45,429
ChicoSequoia National Forest39,836
Circle MountainSan Bernardino National Forest6,375
City CreekSan Bernardino National Forest9,997
ColdwaterCleveland National Forest8,402
Crystal CreekSan Bernardino National Forest6,783
Cucamonga AAngeles National Forest1,249
Cucamonga BSan Bernardino National Forest11,933
Cucamonga CSan Bernardino National Forest4,106
Cutca ValleyCleveland National Forest14,530
CuyamaLos Padres National Forest19,631
Deep CreekSan Bernardino National Forest23,869
Devil GulchSierra National Forest30,490
Domeland Add.Sequoia National Forest3,046
Dry LakesLos Padres National Forest17,043
Eagle PeakCleveland National Forest6,481
Ferguson RidgeSierra National Forest6,104
Fish CanyonAngeles National Forest29,886
Fox MountainLos Padres National Forest52,072
Greenhorn CreekSequoia National Forest28,226
Hixon FlatSan Bernardino National Forest8,095
Horse Creek RidgeSan Bernardino National Forest8,969
Kings RiverSierra National Forest52,999
LaddCleveland National Forest5,300
Magic MountainAngeles National Forest15,542
Malduce BuckhornLos Padres National Forest14,177
MatilijaLos Padres National Forest5,218
Mill CreekSequoia National Forest27,643
Mill PeakSan Bernardino National Forest7,884
MonoLos Padres National Forest28,141
MosesSequoia National Forest22,077
No NameCleveland National Forest4,897
NordhoffLos Padres National Forest12,031
Oat Mtn.Sequoia National Forest12,223
Pine CreekCleveland National Forest503
Pleasant ViewAngeles National Forest26,395
Pyramid Peak BSan Bernardino National Forest7,194
Raywood Flat BSan Bernardino National Forest11,373
Red MountainAngeles National Forest8,034
Rouse HillSan Bernardino National Forest13,745
Salt CreekAngeles National Forest11,022
San DimasAngeles National Forest7,160
San Gabriel AddAngeles National Forest2,527
San SevaineSan Bernardino National Forest6,866
Santa CruzLos Padres National Forest21,182
Sawmill - BadlandsLos Padres National Forest51,362
ScodiesSequoia National Forest725
Sespe - FrazierAngeles National Forest4,254
Sespe - FrazierLos Padres National Forest106,910
Sheep MountainAngeles National Forest21,098
Sill HillCleveland National Forest5,294
Slate Mtn.Sequoia National Forest12,299
Stanley MountainLos Padres National Forest14,674
Strawberry PeakAngeles National Forest7,245
TequepisLos Padres National Forest9,080
TrabucoCleveland National Forest23,341
TuleAngeles National Forest9,861
WestforkAngeles National Forest4,407
White LedgeLos Padres National Forest18,632
WildhorseCleveland National Forest1,483
Wonoga Pk.Inyo National Forest11,272
WoolstaffSequoia National Forest41,445
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
South Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Indian CreekBuffalo Gap National Grassland24,666
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
References (23)
  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. California Department of Fish and Game (CDF&G). 1990. 1989 annual report on the status of California's state listed threatened and endangered plants and animals. 188 pp.
  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. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  11. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  15. 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.
  16. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  17. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 3 August 1987. Determination of threatened status and critical habitat for the Inyo brown towhee. Federal Register 52:28780-28786.
  18. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 3 August 1989. Proposed determination of additional critical habitat for the Inyo brown towhee. Federal Register 52:28787-28788.
  19. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  20. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  21. Zimmer, K. J. 1988. The brown towhee complex. Birding 20:129-136.
  22. Zink, R. K., and D. L. Dittman. 1991. Evolution of brown towhees: mitochondrial DNA evidence. Condor 93:98-105.
  23. Zink, R. M. 1988. Evolution of brown towhees: allozymes, morphometrics and species limits. Condor 90:72-82.