Myadestes townsendi

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Breeding range extends from eastern Alaska and Yukon south in mountains through western Canada and the western United States (south to southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and east to Montana, northeastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota, northwestern Nebraska) and in the mountains of Mexico from Chuhuahua to Zacatecas (Bowen 1997, AOU 1998). The primary winter range extends from southwestern Canada, Montana, and South Dakota, east to central Texas, south to northern Baja California, Sonora, and the southern limits of the breeding range in Mexico (AOU 1998); solitaires sometimes appear in areas to the east of this range.

Length: 22 cm

Weight: 34 grams

Systems

• Terrestrial

Comments: Breeding habitat includes montane and subalpine coniferous forest and woodland, rocky cliffs, and adjacent brushy areas and thickets. Nests are on the ground in rock crevices, at tree bases, in ledges of earth banks, etc. During the nonbreeding season, habitats include open woodland (e.g., pinyon-juniper), chaparral, desert, and riparian woodland (AOU 1983).

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Breeding populations north of southwestern Canada move south for winter. Individuals generally move to lower elevations for winter.

Comments: Diet includes insects (e.g., caterpillars, beetles, wasps, ants, bugs) and fruits (e.g., juniper, rose, mistletoe, madrone); also pine seeds (Terres 1980). Solitaries fly out from perches and catch insects in the air.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

Comments: This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

100,000 - 1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Total adult population size is unknown but presumably exceeds 100,000. Rich et al. (2004) estimated population size at 770,000.

Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups.

Clutch size is 3-5 (usually 4).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 8 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 8
Specimens with Barcodes: 11
Species With Barcodes: 1

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Least Concern
• 2004
  Least Concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Large range in western North America; large population size; no evidence of significant decline or major threats.

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 30%

Comments: Trends are poorly known but probably the extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, and population size have been relatively stable over the past several decades. Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) detect this species in very low numbers (average of fewer than 1 bird per route). BBS data for 1966-2007 do not indicate a significant decline or increase.

Degree of Threat: Low

Comments: No major threats have been identified.

Global Protection: Very many (>40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Many occurrences are in prtoected areas.