When you’re watching for this songbird, look out below. The Eastern towhee spends most of its time on the ground, whether it’s foraging or nesting.
How to Identify an Eastern Towhee
Updated on Feb. 11, 2025
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What Does an Eastern Towhee Look Like?
Scientific name: Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Family: Sparrow
Length: 8 inches
Wingspan: 10-1/2 inches
Distinctive markings: Male has a black head, back and tail with white belly, orange-red sides and red or white eyes. The female’s coloring has a browner cast.
A flurry of flying leaves and bursts of rusty orange feathers are usually the first signs of an eastern towhee’s presence. According to Ryan Brady, conservation biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, these birds can be tough to spot because of their foraging habits. He says, “Often they’re on the ground scratching for food, so they’re hidden.”
Towhees are generally solitary birds that haunt the undergrowth and thick shrubbery. You’ll spot them close to the forest floor, on the hunt for seeds, insects and arthropods. But what makes them hard to spot also makes them easy to identify.
If you see a sparrow-sized bird with large patches of rusty orange on their sides, black or dark brown head and back, and snowy belly kicking up leaf litter, you can be sure that it’s a towhee doing its signature dance.
Males, Females and Juveniles
“They are sexually dichromatic–males and females have distinctive plumage color,” says Whitney Yoerger, who manages communications and outreach for Indiana Audubon.
“Males have a black hood and really strong demarcation between the breast and throat patch. Their upper parts are black too, with a white underside and patches on the wings, reddish brown sides and undertail coverts,” she says. “The females, on the other hand, everywhere that is black on the males is brown or warmer colored, including the hood and throat patch. They have the same white wing patches and underside, but brownish flanks and undertail.”
Juveniles have dark brown streaking on them and look more sparrow-like than adults.
Whitney says an eastern towhee’s eye color is typically reddish but it can vary in intensity among individuals, and there is a white eye variant. So eye color is not always the best indicator for identification. Also take note of this bird’s long tail feathers.
Out west, look for the similar looking spotted towhee. These two birds were once categorized as one species, known as the rufous-sided towhee.
Eastern Towhee Song and Calls
Males may also be easier to see in spring as they wander out of their comfort zone, wooing females.
They make a loud drink-your-tea song that Ryan says, “is to both tell other males, ‘Hey, this is my turf, get out of here,’ and also to say, “Hey ladies, this is my turf, come on over here!’”
Ryan jokes that birders shouldn’t look too high when looking for the crooning males. These ground dwellers perch only slightly higher than normal. He says, “When I say up there, I’m talking in the 5- to 10-feet range.”
Bird songs provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Their typical call sounds like towhee, towhee.
Eastern Towhee Nest and Eggs
Once males draw in a female, they flirt with a quieter song and quickly fan out their tails. The female later creates a cup-like nest around eye level.
The bird will use coarse materials such as bark, dead leaves, grass stems to form the nest, which Whitney describes as “a little bit more rugged.” A female eastern towhee lays two to six gray eggs speckled with brown (three to five is an average clutch size). “They nest on or near the ground, as their lives are tied to dense vegetation,” Whitney says.
Females also take on incubation duties. Regarding the actual parenting, Whitney says, “It’s neat because both males and females work together to defend and care for the young.”
Learn how to identify a dark-eyed junco.
Are Eastern Towhees Sparrows?
With their distinctive look, you certainly won’t confuse adult eastern towhees for chipping sparrows or song sparrows.
Whitney says, “Towhees are members of the new world sparrow family but they are in their own genus. They are related and share some of the same characteristics but they are not true sparrows. Other sparrows have more social behavior, they are not loners hidden away foraging on their own. Towhees are typically separated and not (observed) in big flocks.”
What Do Eastern Towhees Eat?
This bird’s diet consists of insects, spiders, seeds and berries.
“They are omnivorous and they eat beetles, grasshoppers crickets, centipedes, millipedes,” Whitney says. “They will (also) eat fruit, though. So to attract them, look for native trees and shrubs with berries, such as dogwood, beautyberry and hawthorn.
Learn how to identify a dark-eyed junco.
How to Attract an Eastern Towhee
Eastern towhees can be tempted into urban or rural backyards by embracing thick vegetation. Plant large shrubs and, if you’re fortunate to have woods near your home, let the brushy undergrowth be.
Native shrubs do double duty: They provide cover that towhees need and offer seeds and fruit suited for every bird in your area.
If your space lacks cover, consider a brush pile. Ryan points out that people hesitate to create brush piles because they might think of them as an unsightly pile of sticks. But, he says, “if you have a corner of your yard that’s out of view from you or your neighbors, these brush piles are really fantastic for towhees, sparrows and other birds.”
Stock your feeders with black oil sunflower seeds, white millet, cracked corn and seed mixes, which tend to be more economical and attract many types of sparrows. When other visitors knock excess seed on the ground, leave it there. Towhees happily gather a meal under feeders.
Towhees have a unique and quirky foraging style. “They take their feet and they hop and move and scratch at the ground to move the loose leaf litter to flush up any insect that might be down there. That’s their primary move and why you’ll see them on the ground,” Whitney says. “I would see them under the bird feeders occasionally but they pretty much hang out deep in the shrubby stuff.”
Eastern Towhee Range and Habitat
Look for these birds in old pastures, woodland edges and brushy backyards.
Eastern towhees are found in the Southeast year-round but wander north and slightly west for the spring breeding season.
Their breeding range covers pretty much all of the eastern United states, from the Canadian border down to Florida, and includes parts of the Midwest. They winter in the southern U.S.
Migration patterns vary based on where they reside. Northern populations migrate north to south, while the southern birds stay put year-round. Whitney says they are short-distance nocturnal migrants and tend to move when the sparrow movement gets bigger after the neotropical movement comes through.
About the Experts
Outdoor enthusiast Whitney Yoerger is the communications and outreach manager for Indiana Audubon.
Ryan Brady works as a conservation biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in the bureau of natural heritage conservation.
Sources
- All About Birds – eastern towhee
- National Audubon Society – eastern towhee
- NestWatch – eastern towhee
- National Wildlife Federation – eastern towhee
