The male Rufous-Sided Towhee
The female Rufous-Sided Towhee
Photo: Johnny N. Dell, Retired, Bugwood.orgIn the midst of a lull during a recent snowstorm, I wandered out to the 'back forty' to top off the feeders and scatter seed for the ground feeders. Imagine my surprise, when I found myself face to face with a Rufous-Sided Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), perched in the kerria. On the ground, nearby, his mate was picking through the seeds. I stood, frozen to the spot, until they both flew up to the linden branch. This was one of those special moments. It's been years since I spotted this bird and that was during a summer hike through Lynn Woods.
I went on to finish 'setting the table' for my backyard birds, then hurried in with my snow-covered dog. During the next hour, I spotted that unusual couple several times, from the kitchen window. Later, browsing through my wild bird books, my suspicion was confirmed. This Eastern Towhee may breed in our area, as far north as southern Maine, but it winters to the south and west of New Jersey. I'll treasure this accidental Towhee siting and hope that hardy pair finds their way back, come nesting time this spring.
©2008 Deb Lambert
I went on to finish 'setting the table' for my backyard birds, then hurried in with my snow-covered dog. During the next hour, I spotted that unusual couple several times, from the kitchen window. Later, browsing through my wild bird books, my suspicion was confirmed. This Eastern Towhee may breed in our area, as far north as southern Maine, but it winters to the south and west of New Jersey. I'll treasure this accidental Towhee siting and hope that hardy pair finds their way back, come nesting time this spring.
©2008 Deb Lambert
5 comments:
I just did a Google-search for the Eastern Rufous-sided Towhee and found your site! You are so fortunate to have had your camera handy! (Or do you see them from time to time?)
I spotted only the male (my first-ever sighting) at one of my bird feeders yesterday morning! He could have knocked me over with his tail feather! ha. And I thought I'd seen everything I could/would ever see! ha!
I was wondering if I could link your site to mine so people could see some excellent photographs of this bird?
You could leave a note on my site... www.yardisgreen.blogspot.com
Thanks!! Plus it's a pleasure to visit your site. We have a lot of interests in common. :-)
Great post and awesome pictures. I saw my first Towhee in the garden this am, although I didn't manage to get a pic of it so I'm sending readers to your blog.
http://owlbox.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-garden-birds-towhee-field-sparrow.html
Owlman - Thanks so much for the referral. I'm happy to report that I'm still spotting the couple around the feeders and in the trees and brush alongside the swamp.
I'll drop by your blog, later today... Deb
I would say you have Eastern Towhees above. Not nearly enough spots to be Rufus-sided or Spotted Towhee.
Rick - Actually, according to everything I referenced before posting on Towhees, Pipilo erythrophthalmus is the scientific name for Rufous-sided Towhee (I first located it in Peterson's Field Guide to North American Birds).
Upon further research, I found references in many online sites to the Eastern Towhee, by the same scientific name; hence my assumption they are one and the same bird... as borne out in many references.
According to Peterson, the spotted western race is accidental in the East and I realize that my backyard pair are not of the spotted, or western race (Pipilo maculatus).
I am certainly no bird expert, but have been enjoying and learning about my backyard birds for years, so am always interested to share news with fellow birders.
I am a published garden writer, very aware of the importance of botanical Latin as a means of identification and so I turn to the scientific name when identifying fauna, as well as flora.
I hope this clears up any ambiguity that my little posting may have presented and certainly do enjoy a chance to be in contact with backyard gardeners and birders.
Thanks for dropping by... Deb
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