THE CREAGRUS CALIFORNIA LIST
A personal portfolio
all photos & text by Don Roberson
all photos taken in California
SPOTTED TOWHEE Pipilo erythropthalmus
2 May 1987 carrying food to a nest along the upper Carmel River MTY, during our Breeding Bird Atlas project

The SPOTTED TOWHEE is a very common and widespread breeder in brushy undergrowth, chaparral, and riparian thickets throughout most of California, including the pinyon-juniper zone east of the Sierra. Many populations are resident but some montane or interior birds migrate downslope or southwards in winter, adding to resident numbers along the coast. Migrants can occur just about anywhere.

Most of my California records are of breeding or resident birds. The only ones listed below are a handful of migrants encountered at odd places:

11/4/79  Furnace Creek INY
9/24/88 41 nmi SW of Pt. Pinos MTY     one had landed on “Pt. Sur” ship; we observed it from a pelagic boattrip boat
See the family page for county abbreviations. All photos & text © 2002 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.
Readers may use this material for their own private enjoyment, study, or research but none of the photos or text herein may be used commercially nor may they be reposted on other web sites without written permission. All material is copyrighted. The posting of photos and text on this private web site is not a submission to review organizations, including, but not limited to, the California Bird Record Committee. However, blanket permission for use of descriptions by North American Birds editors in their research is granted, and serious researchers in general are granted permission to use the records cited herein.

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Page created 6 Feb 2002