[Birdtalk] Green-tailed Towhee

[Kristin Purdy]

I'm pleased to report only the second-ever Green-tailed Towhee in my yard in Ogden, Weber County this morning, scratching under my feeders. The towhee is doing well in the scratch n' scare wars against the House Sparrows. The towhee is a cantankerous bird and doesn't tolerate any company from the House Sparrows at all. He is, however, tolerating company from a very small rat that makes lightning forays out from under a cedar shrub for spilled seed. 

Also scratching this morning is a pair of White-crowned Sparrows, another species rarely seen in my yard. The White-crowns only appear here during migration and I'll assume that the appearance of the White-crowned and the towhee means a high-mountain Emberzid push is on.

Other more regular scratchers provided me with a first-ever behavior sighting in the yard yesterday--a pair of California Quail mating. Had they known a voyeur was watching, perhaps they would have chosen a more private location. I always know when the two to four pairs of California Quail have been under my feeders because they make the cedar bark mulch fly onto the grass and then I have to go out and rake it all up. They also leave depressions in the mulch where they've scratched for seeds. But what they were doing yesterday was not exactly depressing.

Finally, yesterday I had another rare yard bird (don't laugh). A pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers came in just before dusk and the male stayed for quite some time. How can I have forgotten how beautiful the male Audubon's Yellow-rumped is in his spring plumage? The contrast between startling yellow, black, gray and white was really eye-catching and I apologize to this species for sometimes thinking ho-hum thoughts when I see it. That yellow dash on the bird's crown was so bright that I understand why the taxonomic name is Dendroica coronata.

Kris

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