Pipilo chlorurus
Status: Rare regular spring and fall migrant west, rare casual central, accidental east. Rare casual statewide winter visitor.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM 7242, 11 Sep 1919 Monroe Canyon, Sioux Co (Mickel and Dawson 1920).
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
There are four records in eBird of hybrids between Green-tailed Towhee and Spotted Towhee, including one in Baca Co, Colorado (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2023).
Spring: May 1, 1, 2 <<<>>> May 21, 22, 22
Earlier dates are 25-29 Apr 1994 (Grzybowski 1994, Silcock and Rosche 1994), and 25 Apr 2022 Scotts Bluff Co.
Migration takes place in May.
Almost all reports are from the Panhandle, although there are these in the west-central: 30 Apr 1974 Perkins Co, 1 May 2013 Perkins Co, and 15 May 1972 Perkins Co.
The only report from the east is one at an early date, possibly having wintered, 17 Apr 1984 Dixon Co (George 1984).
Fall: Aug 31, Sep 1, 1 <<<>>> Sep 27, 28, 29
Later dates are 5 Oct 2013 Scotts Bluff Co, 16 Oct 1985 Scotts Bluff Co, and 17 Oct 2020 Rock Creek SRA.
There are fall reports for each of the years 2007-2023.
Additional reports east of the Panhandle are 5 Sep 1969 McPherson Co, and 14-16 Sep 1971 Perkins Co, and in the east, 4 Oct 1983 Douglas-Sarpy Cos (Williams 1984).
- High counts: 6 at Exit 1, Interstate 80, Kimball Co 15-16 Sep 2019.
Winter: This species has a tendency to winter at feeders east of its regular range; all but two of the winter records are in this category. One was at a Lincoln, Lancaster Co feeder during the last two weeks of Feb 1978 (Williams 1978), and three appeared in the east during the following winter 1979-1980, including one in Lincoln, Lancaster Co (Williams 1980), one at York, York Co, and another at Raymond, Lancaster Co (Williams 1980). The latter spent 5 Jan-17 Apr 1980 at a feeder one mile east of Branched Oak Lake, and was banded by Ruth Green 24 Feb (Manning 1980, Cortelyou 1980); another, possibly the same, wintered there 1 Nov 1984-2 Mar 1985 (Cortelyou 1985a, Cortelyou 1985b). The only winter records from the Panhandle are 5 Jan 2013 Carter Canyon, Scotts Bluff Co, and 10 Mar 1985 Scotts Bluff Co.
Of interest was a note in the Omaha World Herald 12 Jan 1919 that “a specimen of this beautiful species was found, dead, in the snow along “Billy” Marsh’s winter shack on Carter Lake, only last week.” (Miles Greenleaf, fide James Ducey). The specimen apparently was not kept, but if the identification was correct, it was the first record of the species for Nebraska by about eight months.
Images
Abbreviations
SRA: State Recreation Area
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
Literature Cited
Cortelyou, R.G. 1980. 1980 (Fifty-fifth) Spring Occurrence Report. NBR 48: 70-87
Cortelyou, R.G. 1985a. 1984 (Twenty-seventh) Fall Occurrence Report. NBR 53: 5-18.
Cortelyou, R.G. 1985b. 1985 (Sixtieth) Spring Occurrence Report. NBR 53: 50-66.
George, A. Dixon County. 1984. NBR 52: 68.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Grzybowski, J.A. 1994. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 48: 313-315.
Manning, R. 1980. Green-tailed Towhee. NBR 48: 89.
Mickel, C.E., and R.W. Dawson. 1920. Some interesting records of Nebraska birds for the year 1919. Wilson Bulletin 32: 73-79.
Silcock, W.R., and R.C. Rosche. 1994. Spring Field Report, March-May, 1994. NBR 62: 66-88.
Williams, F. 1978. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 32: 368-373.
Williams, F. 1980. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 34: 286-288.
Williams, F. 1984. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 38: 218-221.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2023. Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 1 Jan 2024