Pipilo chlorurus

Here we are again. Yosemite National Park.

It's my 7th summer working in the park, this time in the oh so crowded and majestic Yosemite Valley. I'll be working in a classy restaurant by night, which means: I have until 6 pm every day to run around Yosemite and find some birds!

My first day here I've already come across a strange one. This is a Green-Tailed Towhee, foraging close to Curry Village. The species is listed on the official NPS checklist as an uncommon summer visitor, though in my 7 years here I've never seen one. They are much easier to find on the other side of the mountains, in the sagebrush desert of the Great Basin.

Towhees are in the sparrow family. There are several North American species, though arguably none are so flash as this one, with its soft green wings, orange-red crown, and white throat. So striking!