STATUS: Common, but may be declining. Listed on the blue list for declining species in 1982.
HABITAT: Found in the lower elevations of the Southwest, where it prefers desert brush and scrub, especially mesquite and creosote bush, and in coastal sagebrush and thorn forests.
NEST: Places its small, deep cup, invariably low (2-4 feet above ground) in buckthorn, laurel, sumac, sagebrush, cactus, or other desert plant.
FOOD: Gleans insects and some spiders from branches and twigs of shrubs. Also eats small amounts of seeds.
REFERENCES: Harrison 1979, Tate and Tate 1982, Terres 1980, Terrill in Farrand 1983c.