Canyon Towhee
Melozone fusca
The Canyon Towhee is a year-round resident of southwestern USA and Mexico. They live in scrub along dry watercourses and upland desert scrub at lower desert elevations, and upward into higher-elevation pine-oak or even coniferous forests.
Older references list the scientific name of this bird as Pipilo fuscus, but the naming has recently been changed to Melozone fusca. The status of “Brown Towhees” has long been debated. Some scientists would have us lump the California Towhee and the Canyon Towhee into a single species. It seems the introduction of genetic information supports the argument to separate them into their own distinct species.
To date, all my meetings with Canyon Towhees have been in Arizona, though they range across New Mexico and West Texas, and south deep into the Mexican interior plateaus.

Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 16:36 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/250 |
File Name: D3X8679-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 16:39 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/125 |
File Name: D3X8699-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 16:53 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/200 |
File Name: D3X8707-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 17:13 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/250 |
File Name: D3X8766-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 17:15 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/80 |
File Name: D3X8790-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Garden Canyon at Fort Huachuca. Huachuca Mountians near Sierra Vista Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2015:10:25 15:14 |
Location:
Garden Canyon |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 380 mm, f/6.3, 1/640 |
File Name: D722034-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Catalina Mountains, East of Tucson, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2004:06:23 16:31 |
Location:
Tanque Verde |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/800 |
File Name: JCD_6849CanyonTowhee |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Catalina Mountains, East of Tucson, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2004:06:23 16:26 |
Location:
Redington Road |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/350 |
File Name: JCD_6842CanyonTowhee |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Catalina Mountains, East of Tucson, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2004:06:23 16:24 |
Location:
Tanque Verde |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD_6836CanyonTowhee |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Catalina Mountains, East of Tucson, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2004:06:23 16:36 |
Location:
Tanque Verde |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD_6853CanyonTowhee |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Canyon Towhee(Pipilo fuscus) |
Description: The Cienega at Arivaca. Part of the Buenos Aires NWR in rural Arizona. Southeast of Tucson. |
Date Taken: 2017:05:04 6:56 |
Location:
Arivaca Cienega |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: CanyonTowhee_D5X0469 |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Pipilo fuscus) |
Description: The Cienega at Arivaca. Part of the Buenos Aires NWR in rural Arizona. Southeast of Tucson. |
Date Taken: 2017:05:04 6:53 |
Location:
Arivaca Cienega |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: CanyonTowhee_D5X0455 |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 17:13 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/320 |
File Name: D3X8782-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Melozone fusca) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 16:57 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/100 |
File Name: D3X8743-CanyonTowhee |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Canyon Towhee(Pipilo fuscus) |
Description: Silver Creek area, east of Bullhead City, near Oatman, Arizona. In Golden Valley. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 16:39 |
Location:
Oatman |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/13.0, 1/125 |
File Name: D3X8699-CanyonTowhee-1 |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging |

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