Eastern Towhee - BirdForum Opus

Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Male
Photo by mmdnje
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Identification

Male

• Rufous sides
• Black upperparts, and breast
• White underparts
• White outer tail feathers are seen in flight

Female
Photo bymmdnje
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Female

• Brownish upperparts
• Rufous sides
• White underparts
• Similar patterned to male, only black areas are replaced with brown

Distribution

Eastern United States north to New York and Massachusetts.

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with the Spotted Towhee as the Rufous-sided Towhee.

Subspecies^[1]

White-eyed (Florida) form
Photo by bobsofpa
Everglades National Park, Florida, USA

Eastern Towhee (Red-eyed)

• P. e. erythrophthalmus:

• Eastern North America (southern Canada to Gulf Coast)

• P. e. canaster:

• Tennessee to Louisiana, Alabama and north-western Florida
  

Eastern Towhee (White-eyed)

• P. e. rileyi:

• Virginia to Georgia, northern Florida and south-eastern Alabama

• P. e. alleni:

• Central peninsula Florida to tip of peninsula

Habitat

Deciduous forest and woodland edges, scrub, fields and gardens.

Behaviour

Juvenile
Photo by Fowl Mouth
Connecticut, USA, July 2010

Breeding

They nest in low vegetation or on the ground under shrubs.

Diet

Seedeaters, they readily visit garden feeders.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Eastern Towhee. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eastern_Towhee

External Links

Search for photos of Eastern Towhee in the gallery