Towhees

It has been pointed out to me that I haven't written a blog for a long time. The reason has to do partly with laziness, but also partly because this early winter season is pretty quiet, and I am having a hard time finding something to write about. But then I remembered towhees.  

Towhees are, mainly, extra large sparrows, often with brighter patterns and colors than the usually brown stripey sparrows. And, more to the point, we have four of the six North American species right here in the southwest, and I had always wanted to write something about them.

However, let me start with the Eastern Towhee, which is not found here. We have only recently moved here from Arkansas, where the Eastern Towhee is common, and for completeness let me put here a picture of one I took in Arkansas.

Note, on this handsome bird, the red eye, the black back, and the orange side, with a spot of white right about the middle. This species is  common, and the only towhee, in almost exactly the right half of the United States.

In almost exactly the left half of the United States (this time including Arizona) is the nearly identical  Spotted Towhee, except for its namesake spots.

 The second towhee found in Arizona, in fact almost confined to Arizona, is also one of the plainest. Abert's Towhee is plain gray-brown with a bit of black around the mouth, and a bit of richer brown under the tail. To jazz it up a little bit, I'll show it doing something dramatic.

The third Arizona towhee, the Canyon Towhee, is just about as drab as Abert's. Supposedly it has a reddish crown, but it's pretty hard to see. The only thing that puts it ahead of the Abert's is that it has a necklace of black streaks on a tawny throat.

Of course I'm saving the best for last, the Green-tailed Towhee.  At least it is my favorite. The bird is gray with a bright red crown, a strongly contrasting white throat, and the finest  patina of green over the wings and tail. When you first begin seeing them, in late summer, they are skulking around in the brush, only showing glimpses of the red crown, the white throat, and then, towards September, they keep getting more and more numerous, from the bottom of the garden to the top of the mountain, until they are everywhere, the commonest bird around. At first you are thrilled to see them in he open, posing for any kind of photo you want. Finally you are jaded, and looking for something else to point your camera at.

 

 

The California Towhee, another plain brown job, is found up and down the Pacific Coast. And finally, the Rufous-crowned Sparrow is often considered along with the Towhees. It occurs in Arizona, but we haven't seen it so far.