Eastern Towhee – Ross Feldner

My poor aging field guide just can’t keep up with bird name changes. This bird, once known as the Rufous-sided Towhee has been split into two species, the Eastern Towhee and the Spotted Towhee out west. This tale of two towhees is made even more confusing by the fact that they are virtually identical except that the Spotted Towhee has small white spots on its wings.

Fairly common, they can be found hopping back and forth in leaf litter searching for a meal. Their “Drink your teeeeeea” call is obvious and unmistakable.

According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Eastern Towhee populations declined by approximately 49% between 1966 and 2015, mostly due to loss of forests and increased human developments. Fortunately the Spotted Towhee has maintained its numbers during the same period.

Their songs have different accents depending on where they live. Birds living in the east sound nothing like birds in the west. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service still lists it as Rufous-sided Towhee so maybe I’ll stick with that too.