Towhees

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©Terry R. Thomas/www.nature-track.com

Top left to bottom right:  Abert’s, California, Canyon, Eastern, Spotted, and Green-tailed towhees. Note the yellow instead of red eye of the Eastern towhee. This unusual color only occurs in the extreme southeastern US.

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Near the summit of Mount Lemmon above Tucson, Arizona, there was a songbird near the top of a tree. I could see that he was singing, despite the fact that I could not hear him, and based on color and size quickly determined that this was a spotted towhee. Because of its performance, I judged it to be a male. I was thrilled to see this elusive bird and be able to enjoy its performance.

Spotted towhees are one of eight towhee species in the New World. Towhees are the largest members of the New World sparrow family, Passerellidae. Taxonomically, they currently fit into two genera, Pipilo and Melazone.

If you look up a description of any of the eight towhee species it is likely to start with these words, “large, long-tailed sparrow.” The California towhee is considered the largest at nearly 10 inches, the size of an average robin. All have thick conical-shaped bills suitable for their diet of mostly seeds. In addition, males and females of all species are pretty similar although females may be less vibrant or in the case of the Eastern and Spotted towhees, brown instead of black.

With one exception, towhees are western birds, with two species, Collared towhee and White-throated towhee, living exclusively in southern Mexico. The California, Canyon, and Abert’s towhees are birds of the southwest, essentially California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Spotted towhees are the most widespread, occurring throughout the west from Canada to Guatemala. Eastern towhees are the exception to the western rule. As the name implies, these birds are found in the eastern portion of the United States and Canada.

Green-tailed towhees are found as far north as southern British Columbia in more mountainous terrain. However, during migration they tend to wander eastward and on occasion can be found at bird feeders along the Atlantic coast.

One other unifying factor among towhees is their choice of habitat. All prefer thick cover and spend a lot of time on the ground. So, while all species of North American towhees are considered fairly common, they are often difficult to spot. All species also do a two-footed scratching movement to uncover seeds. This vigorous scratching is so common that it is one of the best ways to identify that a towhee is in the area even if you can’t see it.

Three of the North American birds, Abert’s, California, and Canyon towhees, are relatively plain birds, mostly gray brown with a cinnamon undertail and slightly differing in facial pattern (for instance, Abert’s towhees have a blackish mask while Canyon towhees have a buff on the face). However, three species are pretty striking. The Spotted and Eastern towhees look very similar, with a black hood and wings, robin-red sides and white belly, and a striking red eye. Spotted towhees have well-defined spots on the wings that the Eastern towhees lack.

The Green-tailed towhee is, in my opinion, the most beautiful. Besides its gray body and green wings and tail, it sports a rufus crown, white chin and black and white malar stripes from the corners of the bill. It is a sedate but striking combination that I love to see.

Once you get to know towhees, you may discover that they have been your neighbors for years.

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Help Idaho Wildlife

When we traveled across the state in October 2017, we visited most of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game wildlife management areas. Most of the vehicles we saw using the wildlife management areas did not have wildlife plates. Buying wildlife plates is a great way for non-hunters and hunters alike to support wildlife-based recreation like birding.

C'mon folks, let's help Idaho's wildlife by proudly buying and displaying a wildlife license plate on each of our vehicles! 

See below for information on Idaho plates. Most states have wildlife plates so if you live outside Idaho, check with your state's wildlife department or vehicle licensing division for availability of state wildlife plates where you live. 

And tell them that you heard about it from Nature-track.com!

Wildlife License Plates

Great news! as of 2024, there are three NEW designs for license plates. They still are bluebird, cutthroat trout and elk, but they are beautiful.

Idaho Wildlife license plates provide essential funding that benefits the great diversity of native plants and wildlife that are not hunted, fished or trapped—over 10,000 species or 98% of Idaho’s species diversity. Game species that share the same habitats (such as elk, deer, antelope, sage-grouse, salmon, trout) also benefit from these specialty plates.

No state tax dollars are provided for wildlife diversity, conservation education and recreation programs. Neither are any revenues from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses spent on nongame species. Instead, these species depend on direct donations, federal grants, fundraising initiatives—and the Idaho Wildlife license plates.

Both my vehicles have Bluebird Plates. I prefer the bluebird because the nongame program gets 70 percent of the money from bluebird plates, but only 60 percent of the money from elk and trout plates - 10 percent of the money from elk plates supports wildlife disease monitoring and testing programs (to benefit the livestock industry) and 10 percent from cutthroat plates supports non-motorized boat access.

Incidentally, in 2014, the Idaho Legislature denied the Department of Fish and Game the ability to add new plates or even to change the name of the elk and cutthroat plates (very specific) to wildlife and fish plates, a move that would have allowed for changing images occasionally and generating more revenue. It would seem that they believe that we Idahoans don't want a well funded wildlife program.

I think it is time we let the Legislature know that Idahoan support wildlife funding and that we would like to see these generic plates come to fruition.