Canyon Towhee

Exceptionally secretive little rail. Overall the color of a perfectly toasted marshmallow; back pattern more complex with streaks of gold and black crossed by intricate white bars. Almost never seen in the open. When flushed, look for bold white patch on the inner flight feathers. Most similar to juvenile Sora; separable by back pattern and habits. If you're looking at a rail in the open, it's almost certainly not a Yellow Rail. Found in moderately wet marshes and meadows, where it finds cover among dense grasses. Most easily detected at night when it sings a distinctive song that sounds like two stones being tapped together: "tick-tick, tick-tick-tick", almost always in alternating sets of two and three notes, often confused with cricket frogs.

Medium-sized finch. Gray above with cinnamon underparts, a white center to the belly, and a white-tipped tail. Note the long white eyebrow that becomes cinnamon behind the eye and the white moustache stripe.  Favors shrubby areas and open woodland near water, but also frequents gardens. Sings a series of three notes: “tweet tweet-chew,” or “Who dressed you?”

This handsome little flycatcher has the endearing habit of fanning its tail and flicking its wings when agitated. The male’s long slender white eyebrows and orange breast make him unmistakable; wintering male Mugimaki Flycatchers may cause some confusion, but that species has a smaller, block-like eyebrow patch and a broader, shorter white wing patch. Females are brown above and whitish below with an orange chest and rufous tail; her combination of plain brown wings, warm-toned tail, and a fairly uniform head pattern separate her from female Snowy-browed and Mugimaki Flycatchers. Female “blue flycatchers” can be similar, but they are more slender and have proportionally longer bills. Found in foothill and montane forests, where it forages in dense low thickets, typically singly or in pairs. Song is a brief 3–4-note phrase of very high, thin notes: “tsee-a-tsee-tsee”, or “tsee-ah-tsee”.