Green-tailed Towhee
A Green-tailed Towhee was found in Veterans Park, Fairfield, by James Purcell on January 13, 2023 and posted to eBird. It was seen and photographed by many other observers through at least January 28, 2023. The Green-tailed Towhee breeds in the western U.S. and normally migrates to wintering grounds in the southwestern U.S. and throughout much of Mexico. Photo above by Frank Mantlik
Green-tailed Towhee, Fairfield, CT, 01/27/2023. Photo by Frank Mantlik.
Green-tailed Towhee, Fairfield, CT, 01/2023. Photo by Chris Wood.
State Year List, Connecticut 2023
By the end of the month of January 2023 Connecticut had recorded 177 species on eBird (and up to 180 in January retroactively by mid February), already about HALF of the number expected for the entire year. See the image below, which is an eBird SYL list sorted by date, as of Jan. 31, 2023), showing some of these 177 species, and the Green-tailed Towhee posted on January 13th by James Purcell. Our team voted and all votes were for the Green-tailed Towhee as #1 BOTM for January 2023.
You can see the latest view of this 2023 year’s CT “STATE YEAR LIST” of species here: https://ebird.org/region/US-CT?yr=cur&m=&rank=lrec Click to view eBird State Year List for CT. This is the eBird Connecticut running STATE YEAR LIST of bird species seen in 2023 thus far, as of end of January, by all birders using eBird, up to 177 species.
ARCC Update
The stats on Green-tailed Towhee, for CT: this will be the THIRD record ever.
eBird Map, Green-tailed Towhee
As you know, eBird maps use blue and red pins/icons to display the locations of birds reported. The red pins indicate reports in the most recent thirty days, and after that time, the red pins change color to become blue pins. The red pin(s) in the several eBird maps below show the Green-tailed Towhee reported in CT this month (“recently”, i.e., during this 30 day period: January 1 through January 31, 2023)…
These eBird maps were taken from the internet as of January 31, 2023 at 8pm, showing Green-tailed Towhees at only three East Coast locations during any part of January 2023.
References
Wikipedia: Green-tailed Towhee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-tailed_towhee
Cornell Lab All About Birds: Green-tailed Towhee:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-tailed_Towhee
Avibase:
https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=45D829B3C45C2BC5
BirdLife International:
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22721304
eBird article on Green-tailed Towhee::
https://ebird.org/species/gnttow
Audubon Guide to North American Birds:
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/green-tailed-towhee
Birds Of The World link, regarding diet of this species:
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/gnttow/cur/introduction
Including this about their diet,
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Diet
Major Food Items
Weed seeds and small insects, including beetles (Coleoptera), bees and wasps (Hymenoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), and flies (Diptera; Norris 1968a, Dotson 1971, Oberholser 1974). In Nevada, observed eating third-instar Mormon crickets (Anabrus simplex; Rivers 1941). In Texas, Green-tailed Towhee “searches for seeds of pigweed [Amaranthus], filaree [Erodium], dandelion [Taraxacum officinale], and ricegrass [Oryzopsis]” (Oberholser 1974). Also takes fruits, such as serviceberries and elderberries (Sambucus; Norris 1968a, Oberholser 1974). On Mogollon Rim, AZ, occasionally eats raspberries in late summer (RCD).
Quantitative Analysis
Few data. Stomach contents of 2 individuals in n. California consisted of 29% animal matter and 71% vegetable matter (Bryant 1911b). In New Mexico, insects (beetles) constituted 35% of diet (Kalmbach 1914).
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Crossley ID Guides online:
Credits / Co-authors
This report is a product of the COA Seasonality Project, a team consisting of A.Dasinger, C.Ehlinger, R.Gedney, D.Jernigan, C.Repasz, and co-chaired by M.Bull and T.Robben (https://www.ctbirding.org/about/coa-board-of-directors/ ). It is advised by C.Wood and ARCC: specifically by F.Mantlik, F.Gallo, P.Rusch, G.Hanisek (https://www.ctbirding.org/arcc/committee-members/ ).