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…
Life Intrigued 