A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomencla ...

Pipilo ''Pipilo'' is a genus of birds in the American sparrow family Passerellidae. It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee. Taxonomy The genus ''Pipilo'' was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieill ...

'' or ''

Melozone ''Melozone'' is a genus of mostly Neotropical birds in the family Passerellidae, found mainly in Mexico. Three species reach as far north as the southwestern United States, two species reach as far south as Costa Rica, and two are endemic to Mex ...

'' within the family

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

(which also includes

American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share ...

s, and

junco A junco , genus ''Junco'', is a small North American bird in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. Junco systematics are still confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species. Despit ...

s). Towhees typically have longer tails than other Passerellidae. Most species tend to avoid humans, so they are not well known, though the

eastern towhee The eastern towhee (''Pipilo erythrophthalmus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spotted towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided ...

''P. erythrophthalmus'' is bolder. This species, and some others, may be seen in urban parks and gardens. There has been considerable debate over the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A ...

of the towhees in recent years. Two species complexes have been identified, the rufous-sided complex (involving ''Pipilo erythrophthalmus'', ''P. maculatus'', ''P. socorroensis'', ''P. ocai'' and ''P. chlorurus''), and the brown towhee complex (involving ''Melozone crissalis'', ''M. fuscus'', ''M. aberti'' and ''M. albicollis''). The distinction of species within these is uncertain and opinions have differed over the years. Modern authorities distinguish all four species in the brown towhee complex, though ''M. fuscus'' and ''M. crissalis'' were formerly treated as a single species. Hybrids are frequent between some of the species, particularly between the Mexican races of ''P. maculatus'' ("olive-backed towhee", ''P. m. macronyx'') and ''P. ocai''. Genus

: * Abert's towhee (''Melozone aberti'') *

California towhee The California towhee (''Melozone crissalis'') is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to the coastal regions of western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California Sur in Mexico. The taxonomy of this species has been de ...

(''Melozone crissalis''), *

Canyon towhee The canyon towhee (''Melozone fusca'') is a bird of the family Passerellidae. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the group of towhees to which this species belongs is debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillida ...

(''Melozone fusca'') *

White-throated towhee The white-throated towhee (''Melozone albicollis'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae that is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shru ...

(''Melozone leucotis'') Genus

: *

Green-tailed towhee The green-tailed towhee (''Pipilo chlorurus'') is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the American sparrow family Passerellidae. Its breeding range covers most of the interior Western United States, with a winter ran ...

(''Pipilo chlorurus''), *

Collared towhee The collared towhee (''Pipilo ocai'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae that is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist pine-oak montane forest and heavily degraded former forest. It occupies mou ...

(''Pipilo ocai''), *

Eastern towhee The eastern towhee (''Pipilo erythrophthalmus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spotted towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided ...

(''Pipilo erythrophthalmus''), *

Spotted towhee The spotted towhee (''Pipilo maculatus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. ...

(''Pipilo maculatus''), *

Bermuda towhee The Bermuda towhee (''Pipilo naufragus'') is an extinct passerine of the towhee genus ''Pipilo'' that was confined to Bermuda. It was a large member of the genus and closely related to the eastern towhee. The scientific description was in 2012, b ...

(''Pipilo naufragus'') —

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

References

* * * {{cite journal, last=Olson, first= Storrs L., last2= Wingate, first2= David B. , year=2012, title=A new species of towhee (Aves: Emberizidae: ''Pipilo'') from the Quaternary deposits on Bermuda, journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, volume=125, issue=1, pages=85–96, doi=10.2988/11-21.1

External links

Towhee videos, photos and sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection Pipilo Melozone Bird common names