A few days ago I looked out under our feeder and saw a bird that at first look I could not ID. So I went sleuthing on the web, and my one guess was correct. Do you know what this bird is? From what I've read about them they are very shy and I have not seen one for over 20yrs. So seeing this one in my front yard was a thrill.
I may be wrong with the spotted part as that is the western. The rufous-sided towhee has been split into the following species: Eastern towhee, the west is Spotted towhee The male is black instead of the brown
Kidale you are correct. She is a Rufous-sided Towhee, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw her in my flower bed. So if she is around our area we must have the males around her also. It is such a rare thing to sight one as they are apparently very shy. Back in the late 70's I lived in an area where I saw them quite often digging in the leaf litter around the edge of the wood near our home. But since then this is the first one I have seen in many years.
We have them year round, bathe in the summer and eat berries that I freeze and put out during the winter.
Now we get to see the male Spotted Towhee!! Thanks for posting these photographs Kildale. The male is a very handsome bird.
