Abert's Towhee

Range & habitat

This bird is common in brushy riparian habitats in the Lower Sonoran desert zone and prefers to stay well-hidden under bushes. Though threatened by cowbird nest parasitism and habitat loss, it has successfully colonized suburban environments in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area and may be fairly easily seen on the campus of Arizona State University. Despite its limited range, it is classified as a species of Least Concern in the IUCN Redlist, and there has been some range expansion along the Santa Cruz River as well as in Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona.

Adapted from Abert's towhee on Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.