Green-tailed Towhee Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Green-tailed Towhees are small but chunky songbirds with a big head, stocky body and longish tail. The bill is thick and sparrowlike. They are larger than most sparrows and have shorter tails than most other towhees.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Song Sparrow, smaller than an American Robin.

  between sparrow and robin

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Weight: 0.8-1.4 oz (21.5-39.4 g)

  © Noah Strycker / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Green-tailed Towhees are grayish birds with olive-yellow wings, back and tail. The head is strongly marked with a bright rufous crown, white throat, and a dark “mustache” stripe.

• Behavior

  Green-tailed Towhees forage on the ground or in dense shrubby foliage. They can be hard to see except when males sing from the top of a shrub. Their call, a quiet, catlike mew, can help you find them.
• Habitat

  Look for Green-tailed Towhees in shrubby habitats of the West, particularly disturbed areas of montane forest and open slopes in the Great Basin, sagebrush steppes, and high desert. In winter, they join mixed flocks in dense mesquite areas of desert washes.