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Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Eastern Towhees are birds of the undergrowth, where their rummaging makes far more noise than you would expect for their size. Their chewink calls let you know how common they are, but many of your sightings end up mere glimpses through tangles of little stems. Males are striking: bold sooty black above and on the breast, with warm rufous sides and white on the belly. Females have the same pattern, but are rich brown where the males are black. Eastern Towhees spend most of their time on the ground, scratching at leaves using both feet at the same time, in a kind of backwards hop.
Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across eastern North America. Seen in my yard.
7 Comments
Thanks, Jerry; look forward to seeing your spotted towhee when you succeed!
Thank you, Mary!
Lovely spotting and series of photos ;)
Thanks, Anne Marie. I didn't realize they are hard to spot since I see them all the time. I not only put seed in feeders but on the ground and I guess they now know there is a feeding station here.
Terrific photos - so hard to catch these guys out in the open.
Thank you, Cindy!
Gorgeous series!