Canyon Towhee

Look for a plain, long-tailed, grey-brown bird with a rusty patch under the tail, moving in short hops on the ground beneath dense desert scrub, cactus and canyon vegetation rather than in the open. It typically stays low and close to cover, often detected first by a sharp chip call or a scratching sound as it kicks through leaf litter for seeds and insects. It is a non-migratory resident of the arid southwestern United States and Mexico, so it can be looked for around the same territory throughout the year, with early morning generally the most active period before the heat of the day.