{"id":54064,"date":"2018-09-11T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54064"},"modified":"2025-10-26T06:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T11:40:18","slug":"roadside-green-tailed-towhee-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/11\/roadside-green-tailed-towhee-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Roadside Green-tailed Towhee Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven’t heard Green-tailed Towhees singing in quite a while now because the males aren’t singing on their breeding territories but occasionally I still hear them calling.<\/p>\n

Soon they will be winging their way south to spend the winter in southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.<\/p>\n

I know I will miss them when they are gone.<\/p>\n

\"Green-tailedGreen-tailed Towhee next to a gravel road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 1250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I was able to photograph a Green-tailed Towhee foraging next to a gravel road up in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon.<\/p>\n

Getting these birds out in the open can be a challenge so I was excited that this towhee was in the clear.<\/p>\n

When I look at this photo closely the towhee appears to have grit, not a seed, in its bill. Some seed eating birds do consume grit to aid in digestion but I can’t be positive about what was in its bill even when I blew the image up.<\/p>\n

I should mention I wouldn’t normally have been at this high of an ISO but I had bumped it up earlier to get more shutter speed when I was photographing a juvenile Osprey and had forgotten to bump it back down.<\/p>\n

It didn’t hurt my image quality to have the ISO that high though.<\/p>\n

\"Green-tailedGreen-tailed Towhee foraging near a road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 1250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Green-tailed Towhee<\/span><\/a> foraged along the gravel road long enough for me to take 51 photos of it before it disappeared into the grasses at the side of the road.<\/p>\n

Some folks might not like the setting, it doesn’t bother me at all.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Green-tailed Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago I was able to photograph a Green-tailed Towhee foraging next to a gravel road up in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon, getting these birds out in the open can be a challenge so I was excited that this towhee was in the clear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2212,4594,26,773],"tags":[4004,3940,4136,6790,5292,3905,5476,4069,2303,2326,855,4195,5908,4854],"class_list":["post-54064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-green-tailed-towhees","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-foraging","tag-gravel","tag-gravel-road","tag-green-tailed-towhee","tag-grit","tag-mountains","tag-pipilo-chlorurus","tag-road","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-towhee","tag-towhees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-road-mia-mcpherson-6083.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-e40","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51947,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/03\/im-looking-forward-to-photographing-green-tailed-towhees\/","url_meta":{"origin":54064,"position":0},"title":"I’m Looking Forward to Photographing Green-tailed Towhees","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Green-tailed Towhees are migratory so I don't see them year round in Utah like I do their close relatives the Spotted Towhees. Green-tailed Towhees spend their winters in the southern most parts of the U.S. and in Mexico and I miss seeing a hearing them while they are away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Green-tailed Towhee portrait, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26725,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/16\/sky-line-drive-and-wasatch-mountain-journeys\/","url_meta":{"origin":54064,"position":1},"title":"Sky Line Drive and Wasatch Mountain Journeys","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Dusky Grouse walking across Sky Line Drive in the Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/dusky-grouse-female-mia-mcpherson-5984.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87698,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/14\/spring-green-tailed-towhee-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":54064,"position":2},"title":"Spring Green-tailed Towhee Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I was able to take my first of season Green-tailed Towhee photos in Morgan County high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Green-tailed Towhees"","block_context":{"text":"Green-tailed Towhees","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/green-tailed-towhees\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Green-tailed Towhee high in the mountains, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-6941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-6941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-6941.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2737.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2737.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8985,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/24\/green-tailed-towhee-high-up-on-bountiful-canyon\/","url_meta":{"origin":54064,"position":4},"title":"Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week while heading up the Skyline Drive of Bountiful Canyon this Green-tailed Towhee was singing on top of a shrub and I was surprised when it hung around for about 2 minutes","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Wasatch National Forest, Skyline Drive, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-mia-mcpherson-5784.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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