Habitat

Inhabits relatively open stands of dense coniferous forests with spruce thinned by light burns or selective logging with sparse shrubs and little ground cover in mountainous areas up to and even in alpine areas (Bowles and Decker 1927, Campbell pers. comm. in Bowen 1997, Bowen 1997). Nests under rocks, logs, or other objects that provide an overhang. May also nest on exposed dirt banks or road cuts (Bowen 1997). In the Yukon, often associated with south-facing slopes (Alexander et al. 2003).

References

Alexander, S. A., F. I. Doyle, C. D. Ecker, H. Grünberg, N. L. Hughes, M. Jensen, I. Johnson, D. H. Mossop, W. A. Nixon, and P. H. Sinclair. 2003. Birds of the Yukon Territory (P. H. Sinclair, W. A. Nixon, C. D. Eckert, and N. L. Hughes, eds.). UBC Press, Vancouver, B.C.

Bowen, R. V. 1997. Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi). In The Birds of North America, No. 269 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.

Bowles, J. H. and F. R. Decker. 1927. Nesting habits of the Townsend’s Solitaire. Murrelet 8:12-13.