Eastern Towhee

The eastern towhee is a passerine found in the eastern half of North America. They nest from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Coast and as far north as southern portions of Canada. Birds in the northern portion of the range migrate to the southern United States for the winter while birds in the southern portion of the range stay on territory year round.

At one time the spotted towhee, from the western United States, and the eastern towhee were considered the same species and were called the rufous-sided towhee. It was decided that there were enough differences between the two to break them into two different species. There ranges do still over lap in central North America and the species will still interbreed with each other. This is the female eastern Towhee.

Eastern Towhee

The eastern towhee is a large colorful sparrow found through out the eastern half of North America. At one time they were considered the same species as the spotted towhee, which is found in the western half of North America, and were called the Rufous-sided towhee. However even though they do sometimes cross breed where the species over lap in the middle of the continent they are different enough to be considered two separate species.

The name towhee comes from a description of one of the birds common calls. Towhees usually spend most of their time in the undergrowth foraging for seeds, fruits and insects. The best time that you have a chance to get a good look at them is when they perch in a tree or bush to sing. Males often have a number of different songs that they sing.

Eastern Towhee

One bird that is heard more often then seen is the eastern towhee. These birds are usually found on the ground, where they often make a ruckus in the leaves as they search for seeds, berries, and insects to eat.

The eastern towee looks similar to it's cousin the spotted towhee, except for the white wing spots that give the spotted towhee its name. At one time these were both considered the same species, the rufous-sided towhee. The eastern towhee can be found throughout most of the eastern United States with Minnesota being on the western border of its range. The spotted towhee can be found in the western half of the US and down into Mexico. I photographed these in June at the Necedah NWR in Wisconsin.

Since they spend much of their time foraging on the ground it makes sense that these birds would also nest on the ground. The female builds the nest by herself. The nest is cup shape and usually sunken into a pile of fallen leaves. The nest is typically made up of bark, twigs and leaves with the inside lined with fine grass, feathers and animal hair. Sometimes there is cross breeding between the eastern and spotted towhee in the middle of the US where the the range of their ranges overlap.

Birding at Necedah NWR

We also did a bit of birding while we were out at Necedah NWR. Since we were a few hours east of home we got to see, and photograph, some birds that I do not see very often even though the Twin Cities falls with in their summer range.
The field sparrow is fairly common, during the summer time, both in Wisconsin and back at home, although their numbers are declining.

The eastern towhee is not a bird that I see and get to photograph very frequently. In fact I actually have more pictures of the spotted towhee, which I took when I was down at the Bosque del Apache in January of 2007, then I do the eastern towhee. Both the spotted and eastern towhee were considered the same species until 1995. The spotted range through out the western half of the US while the eastern range through out the eastern portion.
The black-billed cuckoo is another bird that I do not see very often. I am sure that there are black-billed cuckoos close to home but from what I have read they are secretive and not often seen.
Black-billed cuckoo eat fruit, seeds, and large insects, especially caterpillars. It is not good to find a caterpillar eating bird in the area where the main population of endangered Karner butterflies exists. However the Karner larva are quite small and the cuckoo spend most of their time hunting for caterpillars in trees and thick brush instead of lupine fields. This is good news for the Karner blue and bad news for the red-spotted purple.
One of the birds that we photographed last year on our trip to Necedah that I was hoping to see again this year is the red-headed woodpecker. We did get some looks and a few pics of the red-heads but not as good as the ones that we got last year.
Necedah is great territory for red-headed woodpeckers. There are several parts of the the park which are covered with old growth forest. Trees that fall or die in these woods are left to decompose naturally. These dead and dying trees are filled with nooks, holes and crannies which are important to the red-heads. The red-headed woodpecker is one of only a few types of woodpeckers know to cache food for future use. They will hide seeds, nuts, and even live insects in spaces in the trees, insects are often wedged in tight so that they can not escape. That is why a lot of dead wood is important to these birds. Unfortunately in too many places dead trees are removed which makes it difficult for red-heads to find suitable habitat and why the population of the red-headed woodpecker is on the decline.