About the Spotted Towhee
The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, then named rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee. The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a gray catbird. It has a long, dark, fan-shaped tail with white corners on the end. It has a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between 17 cm (6.7 in) and 21 cm (8.3 in) long, and weighs in at between 33 g (1.2 oz) and 49 g (1.7 oz). It has a wingspan of 28 cm (11 in). Adult males have a generally darker head, upper body and tail with a white belly, rufous sides, white spots on their back and white wing bars.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Spotted Towhee sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in May · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmusThe eastern towhee is a large and striking species of sparrow.
Green-tailed TowheePipilo chlorurusThe green-tailed towhee is about 18 cm (7.1 in) long and weighs on average about 29 g (1.0 oz).
Collared TowheePipilo ocaiThe collared towhee is 19.5 to 23 cm (7.7 to 9.1 in) long.
Side by side: Eastern Towhee vs Spotted Towhee · Savannah Sparrow vs Spotted Towhee · Green-tailed Towhee vs Spotted Towhee
Learn the Spotted Towhee for real
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