Wildbird
HOME Bird name:

Eastern Towhee

Pipilo erythrophthalmusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)
Eastern Towhee Breeding Male Portrait
  Splitbar
Range Map for Eastern Towhee

Overview

Eastern Towhee: Large sparrow with black upperparts, hood and upper breast, rufous flanks, and white underparts. Wings are black with white markings, and tail is long and black with white corners. Short, bounding flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Towhee: Breeds from southern Saskatchewan east to Maine and south to California and Florida. Spends winters across much of eastern U.S. north to Nebraska and southern New England. Preferred habitats include undergrowth and brushy edges of open woods. Northeastern birds favor young jack pines or second-growth oak forests; southern birds seek scrub oak or palmetto.

Splitbar

Listen:

Your computer does not have flash installed, please visit Macromedia.com to get flash.

Voice Text

"drink your teeee!!!", "chewink"

Splitbar
BEYOND THE BACKYARD...
800+ BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA
FORUMS - ID HELP - ARTICLES - FREE SOFTWARE - MUCH MORE
If you like the Project Wildbird ID Engine you may want to check out the WhatBird North America database - the gold standard of bird identification that Project Wildbird is based on.

Whatbird.com - a commercial web site - offers the same search capability for every bird in North America, including rare and vagrants, shorebirds, raptors, even extinct species. You'll find the same outstanding illustrations, bird calls, plus these features:

Browse Birds - view birds by location, shape, color, size, etc.

Bird Expert - guides you ID with simple questions

Forum - Visit our Identification Forum and get personal answers from our ornithologists David Lukas and Simone Whitecloud.

FORUMS - ID HELP - ARTICLES - FREE SOFTWARE - MUCH MORE

Related Birds:

Black-headed Grosbeak
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
American Robin
American Redstart
Orchard Oriole
Brambling
Yellow-eyed Junco
.

Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.

Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Length7 - 7.5 Inches
Wingspan10.5 Inches

Eastern Towhee

Eastern Towhee: Large sparrow with black upperparts, hood and upper breast, rufous flanks, and white underparts. Wings are black with white markings, and tail is long and black with white corners. Short, bounding flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "drink your teeee!!!", "chewink"

● Foraging & Feeding: Eastern Towhee: Eats insects, acorns, seeds, and berries; forages on the ground or in low vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Eastern Towhee: Two to six creamy white or gray eggs are laid in a cup nest made of sticks, rootlets, grass, bark, and leaves, and lined with soft grass and animal hair. Nest is built on the ground under a bush or brush pile. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Eastern Towhee: Spotted Towhee has wing-bars and white spots on back.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides., Short bouncy flights with tail spread.
Eastern Towhee Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Eastern Towhee: Breeds from southern Saskatchewan east to Maine and south to California and Florida. Spends winters across much of eastern U.S. north to Nebraska and southern New England. Preferred habitats include undergrowth and brushy edges of open woods. Northeastern birds favor young jack pines or second-growth oak forests; southern birds seek scrub oak or palmetto.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationNorthern birds migrate
Weight1.5 Ounces