A resident of desert slopes and vegetated gulleys, the Canyon Towhee is sensitive to human intrusions. It has been pushed back from urban and suburban expansion into more remote parts of the desert. Its bulky nest is made of twigs, grass and bark and placed in a bush or low tree near the ground. It runs on the ground like a large rodent and feeds by using both feet simultaneously to scratch up seeds and insects from the leaf litter.
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