Green-tailed Towhee
The Green-tailed Towhee hops and scratches for food under low cover, flicking its tail and raising its rufous cap into a crest. It prefers low scrub and occurs in brushy openings in boreal forests on western mountains, as well as in sagebrush habitats. Its song is a loud and lively series of slurred notes and short, buzzy trills while its call is a short, nasal mew.

The Green-tailed Towhee is a ground-dwelling species, smaller than the other towhees. It is olive green above with a white throat and belly, gray breast and a rufous cap. It also has white lores, a dark mustache stripe and yellow wing linings.

The Green-tailed Towhee forages on the ground and eats berries, weed seeds and insects. It builds a large, loosely constructed and deeply cupped nest on the ground or in low shrubs such as sagebrush, waxberry and snowbrush, usually less than 2 feet above the ground.

The Green-tailed Towhee breeds from central Oregon south through the mountains to southern California and Great Basin to southeastern New Mexico. It winters at lower elevations and south to southern Arizona and central and southern Texas. It prefers sagebrush, mountain chaparral, pinyon-juniper stands and thickets bordering alpine meadows.
Green-tailed Towhee Range Map

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