Eastern Towhee

Identification

The eastern towhee is a large and striking species of sparrow. The total length ranges from 17.3 to 23 cm (6.8 to 9.1 in) and the wingspan is 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in). The body of mass of this species ranges from 32 to 53 g (1.1 to 1.9 oz), with an average of 40 g (1.4 oz). Adults have rufous sides, a white belly, and a long dark tail with white edges. The eyes are red for most populations, though populations in the southeastern U.S., particularly in Florida, have yellow eyes – often referred to as the "white-eye morph." Males have a black head, upper body, and tail; these parts are brown in the female. Juveniles are brown overall. Eastern towhees of all ages and both sexes generally are unmistakable. In the Great Plains, eastern towhees will occasionally overlap in range with their sister species, the spotted towhee, which has resulted in rare hybrids between the two species.

Taxonomy

The eastern towhee was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Fringilla erythrophthalma. This species is now placed in the genus Pipilo that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. The specific name erythrophthalmus/erythrophthalma combines the Ancient Greek words ερυθρος eruthros "red" and οφθαλμος ophthalmos "eye".<p>Four subspecies are recognised:

Scientific name

Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passerellidae

Genus

Pipilo

Range and habitat

The eastern towhee occurs throughout the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Occurrences from southern Saskatchewan, southwest Ontario and Quebec south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas are noted in a literature review. Populations north of southern New England through northern Indiana and Illinois to southern Iowa primarily are summer residents.<p>Pipilo e. erythrophthalmus occurs in the most northerly part of the eastern towhee's distribution in the summer, and in winter migrates to the southern and eastern portion of the range of the species. The other subspecies are largely residents. Pipilo e. canaster occurs from south-central Louisiana, north to northeastern Louisiana east through Mississippi, extreme southwestern Tennessee, northern Alabama and Georgia, central South Carolina to western North Carolina, and south to northwestern Florida and east along the Gulf Coast. The range of P. e. rileyi extends from northern Florida through southern Georgia and coastal South Carolina to east-central North Carolina. Pipilo e. alleni occurs in peninsular Florida.<p>The eastern towhee occurs in vegetation of disturbed areas, such as old-field successional vegetation and shrubby areas of power line right-of-ways. In northwestern Arkansas, eastern towhees occurred in old-field vegetation where dwarf sumac (Rhus copallina) occurred at a frequency of 28.6%, winged elm (Ulmus alata) at a frequency of 21%, and black cherry (Prunus serotina) at a frequency of 19.2%. Shrubby vegetation along power lines is commonly used by eastern towhees. For example, in Maryland, eastern towhee territories along a power line right-of-way corresponded with shrubby areas containing species such as Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.). Other species included hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), black cherry, and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).<p>From 1966 to 2015, the eastern towhee experienced a greater than 1.5% annual population decrease throughout the Atlantic seaboard and the northern part of its breeding range.

Breeding range

NA : s Canada and c, e USA

Non-breeding range

to n Mexico

Migration

Complete migrants

Conservation

Population trend

declining