Now this is cutting it a little close. Welcome to the last day of June or what we call at Intrigued HQ – “PPPD” or Potential Post Panic Day. That day comes on the last day of every month since the beginning of this blog over 18 years ago. A tip to the hat to all or blog friends out there with amazing output production (some of you crazies are daily ha). An early goal of getting into this format was to produce at least 6 posts/articles per month. Over that many months there has been some close ones when the “panic” sets in and our official (overpaid) post counting staff calls us up on that last day and says “Hey {snip}. we are short of our goal” – I censored the content of that call to protect all the kiddie ears out there. Brad has been a big help these recent years keeping those calls down, but things got away from me this June with all the doctor appointments etc. Fortunately, you can still bet on the “sure thing” we’ll get it done if we can – ultra runners are all about the grind.
While parsing through the photo queue, I noticed this series sitting in there and thought this was a fitting feathered friend to feature as it was also a “sure thing”…well, almost.
Hit the jump to read about another member of the Towhee family.
I have to say, the Towhee lobby has been working overtime as of late. We’ve featured both the Canyon (link here) and the Green-Tailed (link here) species back in May and now the Abert’s Towhee.
This particular bird is in a special Intrigued category along with the Northern Parula (link here), Pyrrhuloxia (link here) and Phainopepla (link here) – the group where you look around for birders you don’t know before you call it out to your friends. No, we are not devious a-holes that want to keep our finds to ourselves (note, there are waaay to many of those these days). Quite the opposite, we always want to share with others, we just don’t want to embarrass ourselves as there is little consensus on how those bird names are pronounced hehehe. There are certain names that are regional like New Yorkers and their Red-Winghed Blackbirds, but I find that there are some names that are not localized, meaning variety occurs intra-region. I’ll be standing in a group looking at a Parula and some will say Pa-roola (the Intrigued preferred way) another section will say Par-youla and rest some variation between.
When it comes to this bird, there are at least 3 steadfast variations. We go with “open up and say ahhh”bears”. I’ve also heard the Fonzi version of “Aaaaabears” both nods to a French connection. Then there is the Sesame Street nod to Ernie’s companion with {H}Ey-Bert’s. All of this confusion could have been easily averted had they just gone with the Black-Lores Towhee. Is it really that hard ABA?
Moving on to that “almost sure thing” quip. Every time we get a chance to visit Las Vegas, which by definition means every time we go to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, this is the bird that is always checked off for the year. Not only is (has) it been a guaranteed resident, it is (has) always been found in the exact same area of the preserve. In the far back corner there is a relatively open desert scrub area with a few brush thickets scattered about. Walk to that area, take a few steps on their little trail and start snapping as soon as this dusky brown bird with the black lores comes racing out of one coverage to another. You are probably going to hear it calling before actually seeing it dart out..but it is going to happen. Depending on your quickness you might just get a digital card full of orange underbutts, but those are good enough for the check.
These shots were from our visit back in January 2024 and quite pleased it offered me some good poses before blasting back into the brush. This year, my brother Ron joined us out there in late March. This was his first time there and we were busy getting his Average Year counts up (link here). Last year he fell short of the 300 goal and we wanted to get as many of the regional ones ticked off to help him over the line this year. I talk up the Abert’s, walk him all the way to the back of the preserve, direct him onto the trail and tell him to get ready. “Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…what the hell?!?” Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING. No calls, no movement and certainly no sprints among the bushes. One of us is cursed…and from my perspective, there was only one difference from all the other years hmmmm…
I don’t know what to say beyond labeling this experience as an “Almost sure thing”…if Ron is around ha. There is some rumblings occurring out of a certain birding camp that there might have been sabotage as I had already checked off the Abert’s while back in Arizona, but that would imply some form of devious brother shenanigans thus insinuating the other party may have a competitive gene in him. Crazy talk…and nothing to see there (literally) ha!
Not a lot I haven’t already said about this particular bird in the previous post, but I did check and according to Cornell, this Towhee was named by Spencer Baird (first curator of the Smithsonian Institute) back in 1852 in homage to Lt. Col. James William Abert. Curious, looked that individual up mainly to see what nationality he was regarding the possible French pronunciation option. Per Wikipedia (ugh), James was an American Soldier in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, a branch of the US Army originating in 1838. This corps consisted of only West Point grads and assigned to map, design and construct various civil works like lighthouses and coastal fortifications. This group was later merged with the Corps of Engineers in 1863. It appears that James procured the first specimen of this Towhee and thus the honor.
Will put a wrap on it there, hope you enjoyed another look at a member of the Towhee family. July will be a bit spotty for me as we travel for two dog shows Linda wanted to get in before my surgery and not sure of my condition beyond that. The good news is I know Brad is working on some more great adventures to keep you entertained! Take care and congratulations to all the recent Western States Endurance Race finishers – the elite of the elite in the ultra-marathon family.
I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner…
Wildlife Intrigued 
Towhees are quite varied. Excllent photos. Did you see the Weinie 500 race at the Indy 500? https://youtu.be/GMyES63Rgvg.
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I did see the Weinie 500 race and laughed the entire time. That is probably why I immediately recognized it from way down the road. I started yelling weiniermobile and my brother (who was driving) thought I had become possessed. To his credit, I was just going to take a shot as we drove by, but he pulled into the restaurant so we could get out and get shots ….like everyone else ha. I should go see again what place the Wisconsin weinier came in.
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It was a great race.
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I was probably more excited watching those laps than I was the real race.
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I don’t doubt it.
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I think I’ve seen that guy before. No, not the WeinerMobile, the bird. Though it was at Clark County, must have know Ron was going to Henderson that day. We will have to keep an eye out for it at Henderson this fall. Is Ron going to be near Vegas then?
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The Abert’s are definitely at Clark County as well although you might have to hunt for them a bit there – they tend to get trampled by the mobs of Quail. I am definitely on the belief that the “Ron Effect” was on full display that day. Thought about going back the day he left to see if it showed up …then I would know ha. Ron usually flies out to meet us depending on where we are at. We are grounded until the end of the year so you should be safe if going there this fall. Looking like Arizona/Nevada is out as a whole next year due to the CPE nationals being out in Seattle next spring. If Ruger gets his act together we will be heading out there for our big Spring migration.
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We were vacationing with our 7-year-old son decades ago, and happened upon the Weinermobile. I have amazing memories of both my guys cracking up unexpectedly throughout the next 2 weeks – can’t beat good auto design and bad puns for giving us a case of the giggles. That windshield wiper blade system is really something.
Your Abert’s Towhee is beautiful, I love the fluffy gray feathers that snuck out from under his wing, makes him much less fierce-looking. Being from the southeast quarter of Texas, Louisiana and its Cajun pronounciations have rubbed off on me, so I’m saying “AY-bear’s”, as in Bobby Hebert, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, featured in a Seinfield bit ages ago. Great 360-degree photos, as usual (though I had to go over to All About Birds to see his rufous undertail coverts). I suppose he will be renamed as part of the American Ornithological Society’s depersonalization effort, and I hope they follow your suggestion. Have fun on your trip with the puppies!
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Not sure if the right word is “unexpectedly”..pretty much a predictable guy thing ha. The whole vehicle is quite nice, the interior is downright awesome and looks incredibly comfortable. Linda was busy chastising me for not hunting down the drivers and getting a weiner-whistle (apparently that is a thing). I also liked that little display of underfeathers – this one looked like it had had a rough night down at the bar and hadn’t found a mirror yet. Now that is a great reference for your pronunciation (better than my phonics!). Apologies for the lack of orange undertail coverts – I realized after I had written that line that I didn’t have a shot of it in the series, and that is usually a gimme with these sprinters. We will see with the rename efforts – as for now, here at Intrigued, we are refusing to adopt all name changes that are not based on family changes, regional splits or in the Night Herons case the stupid hyphen change which we are okay with. The trip was bittersweet as they say – Raven absolutely nailed it going 100% with numerous firsts where Ruger had a brain fart and was below 50%. Wanted to play around in the dirt rather than listen to mommy so he had extra workouts this morning as a result while Raven enjoyed a siesta in his comfy bed. Thanks for coming by Sam!
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How nice that this understated but attractive towhee posed for you and allowed you so many crisp photos, Brian.
We learned about Mr. Abert when we visited Bent’s Old Fort in southeastern Colorado. He was the engineer who drew a map of the fort when he visited the fort in the 1840s. It was his exact details that enabled the National Park Service to reconstruct the fort.
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Interesting, the amount of things you can learn at various sites and historical markers. I usually have to rely on Linda to give me the background as I’m usually blasting out the door and looking for birds in the nearby settings (old forts are usually great birding areas like Fort Pickens in Florida or Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. This particular Towhee was definitely gracious with his poses, although Sam did point out I wasn’t able to provide a good look at the rufous undertail – need to try harder next time ha. Appreciate you coming by Tanja – so far behind on my blog reading, but in just over a week I’ll have plenty of time to get caught up.
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I agree–old forts are often great places to sight birds. Cemeteries are another. It would be interesting to take a trip and stop at every cemetery in every town. I bet we would get to see a great variety of the local avifauna (excluding waterbirds).
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Absolutely! Only problem with cemeteries is I get distracted and spend all my time looking at tombstones and drawing out ideas for my haunted trail ha!
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I thought you were going to say you get distracted looking at tombstones to make plans for your own. Hopefully you won’t have to do that for a long time!
You just need to plan in enough time to get ideas for your haunted trail and to bird at the same time.
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Well, I did suggest to Linda I just wanted Game Over as the epitaph ha! Fingers crossed on the longevity, feeling a bit “shortened” at the moment. Yes, you have the right idea – or as my (and Brad’s) former employer would regurgitate at nauseam – The Power of the AND. Now I have to go purge that from my short term memory hehehe.
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Brian, thank you for an introduction to the Abers tohee. I noticed an orangish highlight on its chest, and thought maybe that was a similar color to the “underbutt” we can’t see.
I hope you are taking good care of yourself as you prepare for your surgery. Hope it goes well! ❤️
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You are very welcome Cheryl! The undertail rufous if very orange. Cornell’s site actually has a better look at it – see the second shot in from the left here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Aberts_Towhee/id. Think more of the American Robin orange/rufous coloring on its chest, just on this Towhee’s but ha! Thanks for the good wishes on the surgery. I’m just over a week out now so I am starting to get anxious. One more physical to go through this week and then it is just sit and wait time until the actual surgery. Honestly, not worried much about the cutting part vs the amount of rehab that will be needed to get me back on the trail. Being out for a year (basically since last October) is going to put a serious dent in my overall race training and stamina – oh well, life is made up of roadblocks along the way – my father used to say it is character building. Take care Cheryl and appreciate you coming by.
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Thanks for the photo, Brian. Yes, very like the breast of a robin! 😊
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Then they have that cool white eye-ring as the accent!
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