This is an uncommon resident in this area. Steve Hampton attracted it by playing an imitation of its call on a
small wooden flute during a field trip for the Central Valley Birding Symposium.
This species is polychromatic, with gray, brown and rufous morphs. However distinctions are often unclear. Rufous
morphs are probably confined to more southerly and interior populations.
Seven subspecies are currently recognized. This is G. g. grinnelli which ranges from southeast Alaska through
the coastal ranges of Northern California. South of Monterey County, it is replaced by G. g. californicum
which is paler and has more and better defined white bars on its tail.
The various races have been divided into five main groups.
- Pacific (West Coast)
- Cape (Southern Baja)
- Mountain (Arizona & Mexico)
- Rocky Mountain
- Guatemalan
The last three groups are sometimes merged into a single group. Each group has different vocalizations and some
of these may eventually be recognized as separate species. Our bird is a member of the Pacific group in which
the call-notes are single and widely spaced. Other populations have faster, often double call-notes.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LX5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter).