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California Towhee

Pipilo Crissalis

Published on Project Noah
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33.1468, -117.009

Field Notes

Description:

Brown bird with orange under the tail and around the eye.

Habitat:

Backyard area with poultry that attract flies.

Notes:

Suspect it is a type of finch. Sorry for the quality but this was taken through a screen door and wire fence in the shade. Too much for my point & shoot camera!

Reference Links:

California Towhee, Pipilo Crissalis

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
Ava T-B
That's a pecking in the dirt kind of bill. You've got it right with towhee -- see this: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/california_towhee/id
CindyBinghamKeiser
Gosh it's been a while so I don't recall. I had assumed it was after the flies but it may have been pecking in the dirt.
Ava T-B
Yes, I think it's a CA towhee. Was it kicking dirt back with its feet and then finding things on the ground with its bill?
CindyBinghamKeiser
Is it possible this is a California Towhee? I think that based on the orange/brown under the tail and around the eyes.
CindyBinghamKeiser
Thank you for the suggestion Sarah. It very well could be. The photo quality is horrible so it's so hard to tell. I wonder what it was eating there as the area is dirt under avocado trees and is inhabited by ducks and chickens. There is no seed in that area.
SarahJoyBallard
I think that it is probably a juvenile male Cassin's Finch. They would normally have a little more red, which is why I'm thinking it could be a juvenile...It is a seed-eater, though, not a fly-eater.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Global Flight

Tags

Photographed
PublishedAugust 15, 2011

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