Melozone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Melozone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Canyon towhee (Melozone fusca) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Passerellidae |
| Genus: | Melozone Reichenbach, 1850 |
| Type species | |
| Pyrgita biarcuata[1] Prévost & Des Murs, 1846 | |
Melozone is a genus of mostly Neotropical birds in the family Passerellidae, found mainly in Mexico. Three species reach as far north as the southwestern United States, two species reach as far south as Costa Rica, and two are endemic to Mexico.
It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee.
The genus Melozone was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.[2] The name combines the Ancient Greek μηλον/mēlon meaning "cheek" with ζωνη/zōnē meaning "girdle" or "belt".[3] Reichenbach did not specify a type species but in 1888 the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe designated the type as Pyrgita biarcurata Prévost and Des Murs, 1842, Prevost's ground sparrow.[4][5]
Species
The genus contains following nine species:[6]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Abert's towhee | Melozone aberti | Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Sonora in Mexico. |
 | Cabanis's ground sparrow | Melozone cabanisi | Costa Rica. |
 | California towhee | Melozone crissalis | western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California Sur in Mexico. |
| Canyon towhee | Melozone fusca | Southern Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico & western Texas, also present in northern & central Mexico. |
_(5771871547)_(cropped).jpg) | Prevost's ground sparrow | Melozone biarcuata | southern Mexico to western Honduras. |
_(8079396250).jpg) | Rusty-crowned ground sparrow | Melozone kieneri | western and southwestern Mexico. |
 | White-eared ground sparrow | Melozone leucotis | Mexico and Guatemala to northern Costa Rica. |
_(cropped).jpg) | White-throated towhee | Melozone albicollis | Mexico. |
References
- ↑ "Passerellidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ↑ Reichenbach, Ludwig (1850). Avium Systema Naturale (in German). Dresden and Leipzig: Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. Plate LXXIX.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "Melozone". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
- ↑ Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1888). Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Fringilliformes: Part III. Containing the family Fringillidae. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 12. London: Trustees of the British Museum. p. 731.
- ↑ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- ↑ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 20 March 2026.