White-throated towhee
species of bird
The white-throated towhee (Melozone albicollis) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is endemic to Mexico.
Taxonomy and systematics
The white-throated towhee was formally described in 1858 with the binomial Pipilo albicollis. Following a study published in 2009 the white-throated towhee and three other species were transferred from Pipilo to Melozone, a genus that had been erected in 1850.
The white-throated towhee has two subspecies, the nominate M. a. albicollis (Sclater, PL, 1858) and M. a. marshalli (Parkes, 1974).
Description
The white-throated towhee is a large sparrow with a long tail, 18.5 to 22.5 cm (7.3 to 8.9 in) long and weighing 42 to 50 g (1.5 to 1.8 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a brown crown and nape.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “White-throated towhee” as species of bird. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of bird. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1935552. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1858, 2009, 1850 and 1974.
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This entry incorporates text from “White-throated towhee” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.