USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Breeding Range. (Fig. 168). Common in the badlands and along wooded stream valleys throughout the Little Missouri Slope; locally common in wooded stream valleys and badlands along the Missouri River and its tributaries within the Missouri Slope and Coteau Slope; fairly common along wooded stream valleys of the Mouse River and its tributaries throughout the Northwestern Drift Plain; uncommon and local on the Missouri Coteau--occurring along watershed streams of Long Lake in Burleigh, Kidder, and Emmons Counties and in the Hawks Nest hills of southeastern Wells County.

A study of breeding specimens collected along the Mouse River by Sibley and West (1959) indicated a slight degree of hybridization with the eastern form Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus.

Breeding Habitat. Semiopen woodlands with a fairly dense understory of small trees and tall shrubs. Characteristic dominant tree species in these habitats include Rocky Mountain cedar, bur oak, and green ash. The more common understory trees and shrubs include bullberry, choke cherry, Saskatoon serviceberry, hawthorn, skunk sumac, and creeping juniper.

Nesting. Breeding season: Mid-May to late July; peak, late May to mid-July. Extreme egg dates (3 nests): June 6 [1942] in McKenzie County (Pettingill and Dana 1943) to June 20 [1962] in Slope County (RES). Nestling dates (2 nests): June 6 [1942] in McKenzie County (three newly hatched young--Pettingill and Dana 1943) and June 12 [1971] in Wells County (P. F. Springer). In 1913, fledglings were observed in Dunn County on June 25 and in Oliver County on July 28 (S. G. Jewett).

The nest found in Slope County on June 20, 1962 was situated on the ground in a growth of creeping juniper within a semiopen stand of ponderosa pine.

Indicated clutch size (3 nests): 4 to 5 eggs; mean, 4.7 eggs.

Figure 168. Breeding Range of Spotted Rufous-sided Towhee.