The bird in question is a Canyon Towhee, which can sometimes exhibit a raised crest on its crown. Birds of North America includes reference to the Canyon Towhee erecting its crown as a display threat, especially when excited or aggressive. A Juniper Titmouse lacks the white eye ring and the peach-colored undertail coverts seen on Bill Dewey?s photo. The Juniper Titmouse?s crest is also much more prominent than the raised crest of the Canyon Towhee. Both birds are found in Bosque del Apache, in fact a Canyon Towhee has been hanging around the visitor?s center at the Bosque del Apache NWR for a while; we saw it recently during the Festival of Cranes.

Jim Owens
Mercer Island