A Near-California Endemic, the California Towhee on the Tuolumne River

Endemic that is, if we are talking about all of California, Alta and Baja, and also count a bit of southern Oregon. California doesn't have all that many true endemics, primarily the Yellow-Billed Magpie, and the Channel Islands Scrub Jay. It seems odd to me that this is so because of the great geographic barrier presented by the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Range, as well as the harsh deserts that lie to the east. That's the way it is, but the California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) is an example of the isolation of a bird type that leads to speciation. There is a very similar bird that lives across the southwest, the Canyon Towhee, along with the Abert's Towhee. The Canyon was once considered that same as the California, but they are isolated from each other and have changed. There is also a very small population (~200 individuals) in the Argus Mountains near Death Valley (the Inyo California Towhee) that also show differences.

The California Towhee that I spied and photographed was hunting in the fig trees along the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail the other day. They are a large species of sparrow, and often hunt for seeds by scrabbling in the dirt, sparrow-style. That's what this one was doing until I bumbled along the trail and scared it up into the shrubs. But it was nice enough to pose for a few minutes.