Bird’s ID – Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee
The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spotted towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee.
Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across eastern North America. They nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States. The song is a short drink your teeeeea lasting around one second, starting with a sharp call (“drink!”) and ending with a short trill “teeeeea”. The name “towhee” is onomatopoeic description of one of the towhee’s most common calls, a short two-part call rising in pitch and sometimes also called a “chewink” call.
The eastern towhee is a large and striking species of sparrow.
Adults have rufous sides, a white belly, and a long dark tail with white edges. The eyes are red, white for birds in the southeast. Males have a black head, upper body, and tail; these parts are brown in the female. Juveniles are brown overall. Eastern towhees of all ages and both sexes generally are unmistakable and are not known to co-exist with the similar western spotted towhee.
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
A really attractive bird! Lovely shots, HJ!
Thank you Clare! Yes they are. 🙂
🙂
Great pics HJ and interesting info on a bird we do not see in our part of the world.
I’m lucky to have them nesting in my backyard. Thanks Ashley. 🙂
Mags at “Just Simple Things” posted a photo of a similar looking bird, and she asked her readers for help in identifying it. The general consensus was that it is an Eastern Towhee.
https://magazinescorner.blog/2018/10/08/need-help-to-identify/
I wrote my opinion about that question. Thanks David. 🙂
Very striking both male and female, excellent pictures.
Thank you so much Susan! 🙂
Wonderful captures, HJ!, Their colors and contrasts are amazing! 🙂
Thank you very much Donna! 🙂
Amazing photography. Thank you so much for confirming what I thought the bird was.
Very similar to our Spotted Towhee out west, H.J.,minus the spots. Also, the juveniles are a lot more brown.
Thank you Tanja. You’re right! 🙂
Your photographs seem to get better all the time HJ.
As I promised when I changed the theme of my blog.It would be more quality rather than quantity. Thank you Tom. 🙂
Much more colourful than the sparrows we’re used to seeing!
They might have a different dietary fruit consumption. Thanks! 🙂