Melozone aberti
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Abert's towhee (Melozone aberti) is a bird of the family Passerellidae, native to a small range in southwestern North America, generally the lower Colorado River and Gila River watersheds, nearly endemic to Arizona, but also present in small parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Sonora in Mexico. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist James William Abert (1820–1897).
Abert's towhees are recognized by their relatively long tails, dark faces, and overall brown plumage. They are related to sparrows and juncos but are more similar to thrashers in appearance. They may be confused with the California towhee, but their dark faces are more distinct, and the range of these species only slightly overlaps. The Abert's towhee is the longest species in the diverse New World sparrow family at 21 to 25 cm (8.3 to 9.8 in) long, but its length is boosted by a relatively long tail, at 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) in length. Males weigh from 40–54.1 g (1.41–1.91 oz), with an average of 47.1 g (1.66 oz), while females weigh from 39.5–51 g (1.39–1.80 oz), with an average of 44.8 g (1.58 oz). In terms of weight, it is outweighed by several other towhee... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Abert's Towhee sighting in Zion National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 164th most-seen of the 183 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Abert's Towhee in Zion National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Abert's 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.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Abert's Towhee sightings, Zion National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Saguaro National Park (United States, about 40%).
Same family: Passerellidae
The closest relatives of the Abert's Towhee that you can see in Zion National Park (family Passerellidae, New World Sparrows) are Spotted Towhee (about 60%), Dark-eyed Junco (about 30%) and Song Sparrow (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Abert's Towhee is recorded against all the birds logged in Zion National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
