Rufous Respite

I heard an unusual bird call when I was filling the bird feeders the other day, but I was too distracted at the time to give it my full attention. When I heard it again the next day I immediately started running through my mental list of familiar birds that could be visiting our neighborhood this time of year. I came up empty.

It all made sense when I spotted this bird splashing around in the birdbath. The mystery songstress was an Eastern Towhee:

It used to be that there was only one towhee species—the aptly-named Rufous-sided Towhee—but eventually they were split into two separate species. The West got the Spotted Towhee and here in the East our bird was renamed the Eastern Towhee. Teh. I liked the old name better. It was much more exotic.

Towhees are beautiful birds with a black (male) or brown (female) head and upper back, bright rust-colored (rufous) sides and a white belly.

They like to hide in brush or thick shrubs, but if you do see one it will probably be jumping back and forth scratching at leaf litter to uncover insects or seeds. Their scratching behavior is similar to White-throated or Fox Sparrows. Towhees have very thick beaks which allow them to crack open seeds and even acorns, but they also eat fruit and insects.

I’ve seen a towhee visit my feeders before, but this one merely wanted a refreshing bath before continuing on its southern migration.