California Towhee - Melozone crissalis

This towhee was on the lawn and raised flower bed foraging with visits to the large pottery saucer feeder when a squirrel came along to raid the bird food. My little dog went after the squirrel and the towhee decided to get out of the way until the place settled down. They are among the species that like millet so if you have towhees you can ignore the "don't buy feed with millet filler because birds won't eat it." I let some of the spilled millet seed sprout and grow in my yard and get shots of doves and towhees eating the seeds when the plants mature. Better images than all the shots of them on feeders.

Towhee are birds of the brush shrubs and bushes of the chaparral and have readily adapted to shrubs etc in yards and parks. They prefer to forage near places they can duck for shelter. In my front yard they will get fairly far from their shelter when I am sitting on the front porch. I guess they figure I am safe and I scare off the things dangerous to them. In spring and early summer when they are after insects, grubs etc to feed their babies I have had them foraging less than 5 feet from me. Especially if I just watered the lawn (I like to sit in front and water with a hose sometimes.) and the bugs and grubs are disturbed and moving around. They will also forage beside and on the driveway when there is a car to duck under. I have seen one gather grubs and pile them on the concrete of the porch near me until they have all they carry in one trip then take them off and return to do it again later. The nest and babies must have been fairly nearby based on the turn around time. The same bird also splashed in a water dish and flew through the spray from the hose.

They eat mostly seeds of grasses and herbs plus berries such as elderberry, coffeeberry, and poison oak, acorns, and garden produce like peas, plums, and apricots. The will also eat spiders, millipedes, and snails. They like millet and a flat tray, saucer, picnic table or seeds just tossed on the ground will attract them.

They will build their nests from 3-12 feet high in small trees, shrubs, bushes etc. They like oaks and if a tree has poison oak growing on it they will often build their nests inside the vines. The poison oak keeps many animals away and they eat the berries.

5DIV, 100-400L mk2 @ 400, 1/640 @ f/7.1, ISO_640
handheld at a bit over 30 feet in warm late afternoon light

I'm a republican, at least that what it says on my v****g card, but I'm more of an independent than either republican or democrat. I v**ed for Trump but unsure I would again. I have not approved of his tweeting, his messing with the news media, his disregard for the environment. On the plus side, he has done a lot to stimulate the economy and what he did to help level the playing field with imports vs. exports was very much needed. I'd give him an "A" on the economy (it's present state is a result of C****a, not his fault despite what some would claim), but on all other issues I'd give him grades of B to F, no other A grades. If there was a very moderate democrat I would likely v**e for him. But here is the trouble facing democrats this year: Listen carefully -- Biden is not your answer! This is someone who doesn't know what state he is in at times and sometimes does not know if he is running for the Presidency or for the Senate! He reminds me of Dan Quayle who was a bit of a space cadet. If you need one example of his less than intelligent attitude about what is best for the country, consider how he announced he would select a woman as his running mate. An intelligent person would select the best candidate, no matter if they were male or female, black, white, or brown, red, or yellow skinned. If he is elected all you demos know in your heart of hearts that it will be because your v**e was against Trump, not for Biden. That is exactly why Trump is in office -- the majority of v**es were anti-Hillary, not for Trump. And old Bernie was definitely not your answer -- neither the democrats or republicans wanted an avowed socialist (aka c*******t) on their ticket. He never had the support of the democratic party from day one and never had a chance. His support comes from the young idealistic strata of the country and just like the youth that led to the Red Revolution in Russia, we may have to contend with that thinking and that group, maybe not in the next e******n, but 8 years from now. That is a scary thought. We 60, 70, and 80 year old folks will hold off the radical socialists for now, but our generations are dwindling. Anyway, our country did not put the brightest, most patriotic individuals up for e******n in the last e******n and I'm afraid the same is happening this time.