718 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
ABERT TOWHEE: Pipilo aberti Baird 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 8.2-9.1 inches, wing 3.5-3.8, tail 4.2-4.7, 
bill .6. Female: Length (skins) 8-8.7 inches, wing 3.4-3.6, tail 4-4.3, bill .6. 
Adults: Lores and chin blackish. Upperparts plain grayish brown , darker on wings 
and tail, primaries edged with pale brownish gray; lores dusky , chin and throat 
streaked with blackish , underparts pinkish brown, belly ochraceous buffy; under 
tail coverts tawny. Young: Paler and duller (less pinkish), breast indistinctly 
streaked. 
Range. —Lower Sonoran Zone from southeastern California, southern Nevada, 
and southwestern Utah to southwestern New Mexico, southern arid western 
Arizona, Sonora, and, at least in winter, to northern Lower California. 
State Records. —The type specimen of the Abert Towhee came from New 
Mexico, but without the mention of any exact locality. It was taken in 1846 by 
Abert on a trip during which he went west to Laguna and south to Valverde, a 
small settlement on the Rio Grande about 20 miles south of Socorro. It is almost 
certain that the type specimen was taken at Val verde, as this is the only place 
where his diary mentions making up specimens of birds. He was here from Novem¬ 
ber 15 to December 15. 
Wherever he obtained his bird, it was a strange capture, for this species has 
not been known since Abert’s time in any part of New Mexico that he visited. 
It occurs now only in a restricted district in the southwestern part of the State 
in the valley of the Gila, where it has been noted at Redrock (Goldman), Cliff 
(Bailey), and Gila (Goldman). It was fairly common here during October and 
November, but kept in the lower parts of the valley below 5,000 feet. [It was 
common, May 15, 1928, at Redrock, and four nests with eggs were found (Ligon)]. 
Many years ago it was found during February at Old Fort West near Cliff (Stephens). 
It is non-migratory.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Rarely more than 5 feet from the ground, in willow thickets, canebrake, 
low bushes, or mesquite; bulky, loosely made of weed stalks, inner bark, grass, and 
sticks lined sometimes with inner bark or horsehair. Eggs: 2 to 4, pale blue, 
sparsely marked with dark brown and black. 
General Habits. —The shy, black-faced Abert Towhee is found 
in so few localities in New Mexico that it is of especial interest. 
In thickets at Redrock, in late September, 1908, Major Goldman 
found it rather common, scratching about among the leaves on the 
ground; and at Gila in October, 1908, he caught glimpses of the birds 
as they dived into clumps of bushes. Their sharp, high-pitched and 
easily recognized notes were heard every day. They were less inclined 
to perch in plain view than the Canyon Towhee, and their motions 
and general habits appeared more like those of the Spurred Towhee. 
On the Gila in 1873, Mr. Henshaw found the Abert Towhee 
abundant. He says that unlike the Canyon Towhee it appears “to 
shun the hills and open country generally, and to choose as its haunts 
the river bottoms and valleys, where in small flocks, it is confined to 
the densest thickets” (1875, p. 306). 
