Family: Emberizidae, New World Sparrows view all from this family

Description 8-10" (20-25 cm). Uniform gray-brown above and below, with buff or rust-colored undertail coverts.

Endangered Status The Inyo California Towhee, a subspecies of the California Towhee, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as threatened in California. The population of this subspecies is very small, consisting of perhaps just 200 individuals. Habitat destruction -- caused by water diversion practices, development, agriculture, and recreational activities -- has been the biggest threat to its survival. It lives isolated from other California Towhee subspecies, in riverside habitats in the Argus Mountains of Inyo County. Because its numbers are so small, it is vulnerable to any impact on its ecosystem. The trampling of vegetation by burros, for example, has destroyed plants necessary to the towhee's survival and left room for unfavorable plants to move in.

Habitat Shady underbrush, open woods, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and suburban gardens.

Nesting 3 or 4 bluish-green eggs, lightly spotted or scrawled with blackish-brown markings, in a cup nest placed low in a bush or young tree.

Range Resident in coastal and foothill chaparral from Oregon to southern Baja California.

Voice   Song is a series of squeaky chips on the same pitch, accelerating into a rapid trill. The pattern varies according to the geographical area. The call is a sharp chink and thin tseeee.

Discussion The California Towhee is easily overlooked because it often forages quietly among chaparral bushes or garden cover. Although its range in the chaparral overlaps during winter with that of the Spotted Towhee, this bird lives in low scrub, whereas the Spotted keeps to scrub oaks and other taller "forest edge" areas.