Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) - HBW 16, p. 595

French: Tohi tacheté German: Fleckengrundammer Spanish: Toquí Moteado
Other common names: Rufous-sided Towhee (when treated as conspecific with P. erythrophthalmus); Socorro Towhee (socorroensis); Olive-backed Towhee (“macronyx group”); San Clemente Spotted Towhee (clementae)

Taxonomy: Pipilo maculata Swainson, 1827, Real del Monte, Hidalgo, Mexico.
Relationships of genus not clear, although generally placed close to several other, similarly proportioned tropical American genera (e.g. some Aimophila, Atlapetes, Pyrgisoma and Melozone). Present species sometimes considered conspecific with P. erythrophthalmus, with which it hybridizes in Great Plains of USA; commonly hybridizes also with P. ocai in Mexico. S races macronyx, vulcanorum and oaxacae (“macronyx group”) sometimes treated together as a separate species, and island race socorroensis sometimes treated as a further full species. Race griseipygius intergrades with montanus, and vulcanorum intergrades with nominate. Geographical variation partially clinal, amount/extent of white dorsal spots and amount of white in tail decreasing from N to S in C Rocky Mts (also from E to W in plains of USA), and, conversely, dorsal spotting increasing from British Columbia S along Pacific coast to NW Baja California. Race oaxacae poorly differentiated, perhaps better merged in chiapensis. Twenty extant subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

oregonus Bell, 1849 - extreme SE Canada (SW British Columbia) S in W USA to SW Oregon; non-breeding S to S California.
falcinellus Swarth, 1913 - interior & SW Oregon S to California (W & SE slopes of Sierra Nevada).
falcifer McGregor, 1900 - coastal N California (S to Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties).

See all 20 subspecies

oregonus Bell, 1849 - extreme SE Canada (SW British Columbia) S in W USA to SW Oregon; non-breeding S to S California.
falcinellus Swarth, 1913 - interior & SW Oregon S to California (W & SE slopes of Sierra Nevada).
falcifer McGregor, 1900 - coastal N California (S to Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties).
megalonyx S. F. Baird, 1858 - coastal S California from Monterey and Kern Counties S, including Santa Cruz I, to extreme NW Mexico (NW Baja California S to 32° N).
clementae Grinnell, 1897 - Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina and San Clemente Is, off SW California.
umbraticola Grinnell & Swarth, 1926 - N Baja California (32° N S to 30° N).
magnirostris Brewster, 1891 - Sierra de la Laguna, S Baja California Sur, Mexico.
socorroensis Grayson, 1867 - Socorro I, off W Mexico.
arcticus (Swainson, 1832) - breeds in SW Canada (C Alberta and C Saskatchewan) S in USA (E of Rocky Mts) to SE Wyoming, NE Colorado, C Nebraska and NW Kansas; non-breeding mainly S USA from C Arizona (rare) and SW New Mexico E to C Iowa, W Missouri and S Texas, S in Mexico to C Chihuahua and C Nuevo León.
curtatus Grinnell, 1911 - N Great Basin in SW Canada (interior S British Columbia) and NW USA (N Idaho S to NE California, C Nevada and SE Idaho); non-breeding S to SE California and SE Arizona.
montanus Swarth, 1905 - breeds in S Great Basin and Rocky Mts region from SE California E to SE Nevada, N Utah, NC Colorado, NE New Mexico and W Oklahoma, S to SC Arizona and N Mexico (NE Sonora and NW Chihuahua); non-breeding S to N Sonora, C Chihuahua and CS Texas.
gaigei Van Tyne & Sutton, 1937 - S USA (E & SE New Mexico and W Texas) and adjacent N Mexico (N Coahuila).
griseipygius van Rossem, 1934 - Sierra Madre Occidental from SW Chihuahua (29° N) S through E Sinaloa and W Durango to NE Nayarit and W Zacatecas (W Mexico).
orientalis Sibley, 1950 - Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico from SE Coahuila, C Nuevo León and SW Tamaulipas S to NE Guanajuato, Querétaro and N Hidalgo (E Mexico).
maculatus Swainson, 1827 - highlands of SE Tlaxcala, WC Veracruz and E Puebla, in E Mexico.
macronyx Swainson, 1827 - mountains on W & SW sides of Valley of Mexico (in E Michoacán, México, NW Morelos and Distrito Federal).
vulcanorum Sibley, 1950 - mountains on SE side of Valley of Mexico (in México, NE Morelos, SW Tlaxcala and W Puebla).
oaxacae Sibley, 1950 - highlands of N & C Oaxaca, in S Mexico.
chiapensis van Rossem, 1938 - mountains of C Chiapas, in SE Mexico.
repetens Griscom, 1930 - SE Chiapas (Volcán Tacaná) and Pacific cordillera of Guatemala.