STATUS: Common.
HABITAT: Inhabits a variety of arid and semiarid habitats in the West, from lowlands up to 8,000 to 10,000 feet on mountain slopes. Inhabits sparse desert brushland, open prairies, open pinyon-juniper woodlands, mixed chaparral-grassland, brushy rocky canyons, mountain scrub, and pine-oak woodlands. Seems to prefer rocky habitats with scrubby cover or xeric woodlands.
NEST: Lays eggs on gravelly ground or on a flat rock, or in a slight hollow scraped in the ground. Often lays eggs so that they are partially shaded by a bush, weeds, or a tuft of grass.
FOOD: Catches insects such as moths, beetles, chinch bugs, locusts, and grasshoppers by leaping from the ground or a perch, or by picking them up from the ground.
REFERENCES: Bent 1940a, Bevier in Farrand 1983b, Oberholser 1974a, Terres 1980.