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[[image: albertstowhee.jpg]]

'''Common Name:''' Abert’s Towhee

'''Scientific Name:''' Pipilo aberti

'''Size:''' 8 - 9.5 inches (21-24 cm)

'''Habitat:''' Western and Southern Arizona. Cottonwood and willow woodlands, with dense shrubs, along desert streams and rivers.

'''Status:''' Vulnerable. Habitat loss has evidently led to widespread reduction in Abert's Towhee populations in most of its historical range.

'''Diet:''' Insects and seed, occasionally fruit. Forages on the ground, scratching in a two-footed, backwards-scratching hop called a "double-scratch".

'''Breeding:''' One to four eggs are laid appearing pale blue with brown markings concentrated on the large end.  Nest are a large open cup of leaves, bark, and weed stems, located in trees or shrubs.

'''Cool Facts:''' Abert's Towhee pairs generally remain bonded for life. 

DNA analysis indicates that of the three brown towhees of the American Southwest, California and Abert's are the most closely related, even though California and Canyon towhees were once considered a single species. 

Abert's Towhee was named by Spencer Baird in 1852 for Lt. James William Abert, who obtained the first specimen.

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