Spotted towhee Pipilo maculatus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 7.25? inches
• Conical bill
• Red eye
• Rusty sides
• White belly
• Buffy undertail coverts
• White wing bars and spots on back
• Long tail with white outer tail feathers
• Male has black head, back, wings and tail-paler in female
• Juvenile (Summer) heavily streaked, brown above and buffy below
• Frequently feeds on the ground where it noisily scratches for food
• Formerly conspecific with Eastern Towhee

Similar species:

The Eastern Towhee is similar to the Spotted Towhee but lacks wing bars and white spots on the back.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.