CENSUS OF THE INYO CALIFORNIA TOWHEE IN THE EASTERN THIRD OF ITS RANGE

Abstract

The Inyo California Towhee (Pipilo crissalis eremophilus) is restricted to the southern Argus Mountains in Inyo County, California, on lands administered primarily by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (China Lake NAWS). The population is geographically isolated from other subspecies of P. crissalis and differs morphologically from P. c. carolae by having (on average) shorter wings, tail (males only), culmen, tarsus, middle toe, and possibly a grayer coloration (van Rossem 1935; Davis 1951; LaBerteaux 1989).