BeakBrain
Menu
Bird GuideDaily BirdCamsTripsCommunityGet the app

Spotted Towhee

Pipilo maculatus

Not Evaluated · IUCN Red List

NENot EvaluatedInvertebratesForestCup nestSmall · 39 g
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 1
Photo: Hydrocycler (Elizabeth Dougherty) · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 2
Photo: funnieanimals · CC0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 3
Photo: Jo Roberts · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 4
Photo: saintaardvark · CC0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 5
Photo: funnieanimals · CC0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 6
Photo: Dominique Menard · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 7
Photo: Dominique Menard · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 8
Photo: Eric Austin · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 9
Photo: Becky Matsubara from Contra Costa County, California · CC BY 2.0
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus), photo 10
Photo: Keenanhye · CC BY 4.0

What the Spotted Towhee sounds like

Sonogram of the Spotted Towhee: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Quinn Desilets · Uncertain · Lund, qathet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spotted Towhee: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Song · Oak Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spotted Towhee: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Song · Prairie Trail, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

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.

When to see the Spotted Towhee

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Spotted Towhee

Regular range

The map shades 4 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada Mexico Guatemala

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.

Easily confused with

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmusThe eastern towhee is a large and striking species of sparrow. Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus) 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 Towhee (Pipilo ocai) 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 · Collared Towhee vs Spotted Towhee

Learn the Spotted Towhee in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.