Canyon Towhee x Abert's Towhee hybrid (Melozone fusca x aberti), Oro Valley, Pima County

This Canyon x Abert's Towhee hybrid was found and photographed by Terry Minks on 13 May 2019

Terry writes: My wife and I have been observing a Canyon Towhee and Abert's Towhee coming to our feeders throughout the winter from the adjacent wash. This month we observed both of them feeding a single fledgling for several days until it began feeding on its own. The Abert's Towhee has done most of the feeding after the fledgling left the nest, and we were told by Kathleen Groschupf that that could mean it's the male. This is only the second reporting of this hybrid. (Read about the first in Arizona Birds here).

Most of the features of this bird are consistent with a juvenile Abert's Towhee, but the markings on the malar and the streaked necklace are characteristic of juvenile Canyon Towhee.

13 May 2019, photo by Terry Minks

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