Image via Wikipedia
Katie Johnson asked me if I had any photographs of the Rufous-sided Towhees that she has seen near her home. Well, Katie, alas and alack, I do not have photos of the Rufous-sided Towhees. KIDDING!! Actually I have photos of the Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus). Several years ago, the people that are responsible for doing such things, separated the Rufous-sided Towhee into two distinct species, the Spotted Towhee and the Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), pictured here (not my photo). So the rufous-sided is no more. Giving Katie’s geographical location, I suspect she is seeing the Spotted Towhee. They are, obviously, very similar. As you can see from the above Wikipedia photo, the Eastern lacks the spots on the wings. The four photos below are mine and they are all of the Spotted.
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee
So there you have it. I hope everyone enjoyed this article about the Eastern and Spotted Towhees and their differences. Click on the images to see enlargements.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. 🙂
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 