Breeds in western USA from south-central and central Oregon, south-eastern Washington, southern Idaho, south-central and south-western Montana and Wyoming, possibly also west-central South Dakota, south to south-western and eastern California (principally east of Sierras), northern and central Arizona, west-central and north-eastern New Mexico, and central Colorado, western Oklahoma and south-western Texas, and in extreme north-western Mexico (northern Baja California). Non-breeding southern California east to western Texas, southern in Mexico to southern Baja California, Jalisco, Morelos, Hidalgo and Tamaulipas.
Population
Estimated population is 4,100,000 (2010).
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus) [XC451027]
by Ed Pandolfino from Dairymart Ponds, San Diego County, California, United States (call)
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus) [XC663758]
by Richard E. Webster from Sisters, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
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).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet