Feeding Behavior

Forages almost entirely on the ground, walking and running rapidly on bare open soil. Finds much of its food by digging in the soil with its bill.

Eggs

3-4, sometimes 2. Pale greenish blue, lightly dotted with brown. Incubation is by both parents, about 15 days. Young: Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 13-17 days after hatching. 2 broods per year, perhaps rarely 3.

Young

Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 13-17 days after hatching. 2 broods per year, perhaps rarely 3.

Diet

Mostly insects. Diet is not known in detail, but feeds mainly on insects, including grasshoppers, ants, beetles, and many others. Also eats spiders, centipedes, and other arthropods, and sometimes small lizards; eats a few berries and seeds.

Nesting

May mate for life. Pairs remain together at all seasons on permanent territories. In courtship, male may present female with twig or insect. Male sings to defend territory, beginning in mid-winter; nesting may begin in February or even January, but lasts until June in some areas. Nest: Usually placed less than 5' above the ground. Low, dense cholla cactus favored as nest sites; will also nest in saltbush, mesquite, or other low shrubs. Nest (built by both sexes) is a bulky open cup of thorny twigs, lined with rootlets, leaves, plant fibers, sometimes with softer inner lining of plant down.