Educate Yourself About the Spotted Towhee and Its Habitat
Spotted Towhee
The Spotted Towhee has a dark head, very dark flanks, stocky body, white markings on the wings and a long tail. Its length is 8in (20cm) Its wingspan is 10in (25cm)
Its voice is a song of identical notes, starts with a stutter, and ends in a buzzy trill; the Eastern Towhee has repeated phrases, with variable versions of “drink your “teeee”.Their eggs are creamy white with reddish speckles, and usually have two clutches consisting of 3-4 or (3-5) eggs. Both male and female incubate for 12-13 days, and fledging time is about 10-12 days. Both male and female feed their young. The female is brown, with streaky underparts.
The Spotted Towhees are actually giant-sized sparrows, and like sparrows they live close to the ground, scratching around in leaf litters for seeds. They have a unique way of jumping forward with its head and tail held up high and with a double-kick backwards with both feet to expose insects and seeds, overlooked by other ground feeding birds.
The Spotted Towhee has a similar looking cousin called the Eastern Towhee, except for the all dark back and only a small patch of white on the wing, they are some what hard to tell apart, and until recently the both species were called Rufous-sides Towhees.
The song of the Spotted Towhee is quite different from the Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), and the song of the young male Spotted Towhee changes over time, and will eventually sound like the one of their father. They are both shy by nature and frequently visits scrublands, and hedges and like to spend their time on or very close to the ground.
The males from the northern population may winter in flocks, with other resident birds, or live in flocks of a dozen or more with other males. Northern female’s like to winter in warmer climates, much further south than their counter parts, and the male towhee both attract their female and claim their nesting territories through their song.
Unlike the male the female does not rush home back north, to claim a nesting territory. The female builds bulky nests out of twigs, grasses, and plant steams, and line it with hair and other soft materials, in places either on the ground or in low shrubs or small trees.
Unfortunately, the towhees are already in decline, due to loss of habitat and especially due to Brown-headed Cowbirds, and their stealing and parasitism towards the weaker and shyer towhees.
If you like to attract towhees to your lovely bird feeding garden plant shrubs that are fruit producing, such as blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, wild cherries, hackberries, and trees like hollies, pines and oaks in your backyard.
Fill your hanging bird feeders and bird tables with mealworms and mixed seeds. Make sure to always provide fresh water and clean birdbaths, and especially make sure to keep your cat or other unwanted guests out and away from your lovely bird feeding garden.
