In my yard in Centennial (Arapahoe County), Spotted Towhees are a regular bird. A few days back, I noticed a female Spotted Towhee it seemed with an orange cap. This is the same place that a Green-tailed Towhee would have an orange cap. It led me to speculate the bird may be a Green-tailed Towhee x Spotted Towhee hybrid. Anyway, the bird came back today. It seems to have paired with a pure male Spotted, as they are always seen together. Adding to the possibility, I have had several Green-tailed Towhees in my yard in May as well as in the fall. Anyway, I noticed she was noticibly smaller than the definite pure spotted. The orange cap, again was obvious. The bird was lighter gray than the male, probably just gender dimorphism, but I don't know. I looked through my field guides. Female Spotted definetly should not have a orange cap. However, one field guide depicted an immature Spotted Towhee as having an orange cap. If this is a hybrid, I'm thinking it is like one part Green-tailed to five Spotted. Anyway, here are some photos. Someone please tell me if it is a hybrid or if I am getting excited over a regular old immature Spotted Towhee. All help appreciated.
Ben Sampson Centennial, CO <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z74NlkpRm-M/WOAek1Z6xtI/AAAAAAAAFdY/YIsH92Q3-QEkRZkqrmAdJKvlJZcKx154ACLcB/s1600/DSCF5377.JPG> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TAHizlqCRW4/WOAeGoYlZcI/AAAAAAAAFdM/lU-9kNMO15Yn2Yil39EpWmVSTftVnqasgCLcB/s1600/DSCF5363.JPG> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z74NlkpRm-M/WOAek1Z6xtI/AAAAAAAAFdY/YIsH92Q3-QEkRZkqrmAdJKvlJZcKx154ACLcB/s1600/DSCF5377.JPG> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3C4sKysTn_c/WOAeTWik8sI/AAAAAAAAFdQ/dQuYqBatTDk-jdzcfGnuJbKziz0BfqCNACLcB/s1600/DSCF5369.JPG> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/f0b9e44a-ff13-4a13-856a-78113aa16d0a%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
