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.

Eastern Towhee
Fun Facts

Towhees are actually members of the sparrow family!

In 1586, John White was the first European to discover the Eastern Towhee. He later became governor of Sir Walter Raleigh's doomed colony on Roanoke Island.

The Rufous-sided Towhee was split into Eastern and Spotted in 1995.

This bird is sometimes called Chewink based on one of its calls.

In the Southern US, they may have a white eye instead of the red eye.

The female towhee does all the nest building.

First named in 1731 by naturalist Mark Catesby who thought the widespread call resembled “tow-hee” and named it accordingly.

A group of of towhees is called a “teapot” or “tangle.”

Click here to hear an Eastern Towhee’s various calls.

Click here to watch close a towhee foraging.

 

Rachel Carson Council
8600 Irvington Avenue  | Bethesda, Maryland 20817-3604
(301) 214-2400 | office@rachelcarsoncouncil.org

Follow Us

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

Unsubscribe or Manage Your Preferences