Melozone crissalis
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The California towhee (Melozone crissalis) is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to the coastal regions of western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California and Baja California Sur in Mexico.
The taxonomy of this species has been debated. At the higher level, some authors place the towhees in the family Fringillidae. Within the group, there has been debate about whether the distinction between this species and the similar canyon towhee (Melozone fuscus) should be at the specific or subspecific level. The two species used to be grouped together as the brown towhee, yet today they are identified separately, especially because of their differing feather coloration, and the canyon towhee's dark central breast spot. The two populations are quite isolated from each other, and molecular genetics seems to have settled the matter in favor of two distinct species for the present. On the other hand, there seems to be little distinction between the northern and Baja Californian populations within M. crissalis. Nowadays, scientists consider the Abert's towhee as the California towhee's closest relative due to closely aligned DNA and patterns.
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cabo Pulmo National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a California Towhee sighting in San Diego on a given day, based on 22,843 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 386 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a California Towhee in San Diego on a given day, against about 40% in January–February, July–August and November, the lowest months. Those are among San Diego's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 55 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most California Towhee sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate California Towhee sightings, San Diego ranks 4th at about 50%. The best odds are in San Francisco (United States, about 60%), Los Angeles (United States, about 50%) and Sacramento (United States, about 50%).
Same family: Passerellidae
The closest relatives of the California Towhee that you can see in San Diego (family Passerellidae, New World Sparrows) are Song Sparrow (about 60%), White-crowned Sparrow (about 30%) and Dark-eyed Junco (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the California Towhee is recorded against all the birds logged in San Diego (22,843 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
