Quantcast

Eastern Towhee

Pipilo erythrophthalmusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Eastern Towhee Breeding Male Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Eastern Towhee: Large sparrow with black upperparts, hood and upper breast, rufous flanks, and white underparts. Wings are black with white markings. Tail is long and black with white corners. Female is similar but is brown instead of black. Juvenile is dark-streaked brown overall with pale chin.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Towhee: Breeds from southern Saskatchewan east to Maine and south to California and Florida. Spends winters across much of eastern U.S. north to Nebraska and southern New England. Preferred habitats include undergrowth and brushy edges of open woods. Northeastern birds favor young jack pines or second-growth oak forests; southern birds seek scrub oak or palmetto.

Voice Text

"drink your teeee!!!", "chewink"

Interesting Facts

  • The Eastern Towhee was considered the same species as the Spotted Towhee until 1995. Where the two forms meet in the Great Plains, hybrids occur.
  • The name "Towhee," an imitation of this bird's call note, was given in 1731 by the naturalist and bird artist Mark Catesby, who encountered it in the Carolinas.
  • It has red eyes across most of its range, but the towhees in Florida and southern Georgia have straw-colored eyes. Eye color is variable from southern Alabama to southeastern North Carolina. This pattern may reflect the fact that the pale-eyed form, which was isolated when Florida was an island during the Pleistocene era, is now coming back in contact with the red-eyed form of the mainland.
  • A group of towhees are collectively known as a "tangle" and a "teapot" of towhees.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Eastern Towhee
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Length7 - 7.5 Inches
Wingspan10.5 Inches

Eastern Towhee

Eastern Towhee: Large sparrow with black upperparts, hood and upper breast, rufous flanks, and white underparts. Wings are black with white markings, and tail is long and black with white corners. Short, bounding flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "drink your teeee!!!", "chewink"

● Foraging & Feeding: Eastern Towhee: Eats insects, acorns, seeds, and berries; forages on the ground or in low vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Eastern Towhee: Two to six creamy white or gray eggs are laid in a cup nest made of sticks, rootlets, grass, bark, and leaves, and lined with soft grass and animal hair. Nest is built on the ground under a bush or brush pile. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Eastern Towhee: Spotted Towhee has wing-bars and white spots on back.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides., Short bouncy flights with tail spread.
Eastern Towhee Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Eastern Towhee: Breeds from southern Saskatchewan east to Maine and south to California and Florida. Spends winters across much of eastern U.S. north to Nebraska and southern New England. Preferred habitats include undergrowth and brushy edges of open woods. Northeastern birds favor young jack pines or second-growth oak forests; southern birds seek scrub oak or palmetto.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationNorthern birds migrate
Weight1.5 Ounces