Warblers, Sparrows, Finches & Blackbirds
Eastern Towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
A large, colorful sparrow that scratches noisily through dead leaves with both feet at once. Its song sounds like "drink-your-tea!"
How to identify it
- Male: black hood, back and tail
- Rusty-orange sides and white belly
- Female: same pattern in warm brown
- Red eyes; many birds in the Southeast have white eyes
- Song: "drink-your-teeea!"; call: "chewink!"
SizeBetween a Song Sparrow and an American Robin
Carolina Chickadee4 in
Song Sparrow6 in
Eastern Towhee8 in
American Robin10 in
6 inAverage length, bill to tail
Details
- Size
- 7–8 in long; wingspan 8–11 in
- Weight
- 1.1–1.8 oz
- Habitat
- Thickets, brushy woodland edges and overgrown fields
- When to see it
- Year-round across the Southeast; summer in the North
- Diet
- Seeds, insects, berries
Range in the United States
Life history
Food
Scratches backward with both feet to uncover seeds, insects and spiders in leaf litter; also eats berries.
Nesting
A cup on the ground or low in a shrub, made of leaves, bark and grass.
- Clutch
- 2–6 eggs
- Incubation
- 12–13 days
- Young
- Fledge at about 10–12 days
- Broods
- 2–3 per year
Behavior
Noisy in dry leaves and often heard before seen. Sings from a high perch.
Conservation
Common, though declining slowly.
Cool facts
- It hops backward and forward to kick leaves aside.
- Birds in the coastal Southeast often have white eyes rather than red.
- Its call, "chewink," was once used as a name for the bird.
Songs & calls
▶Bird sounds video coming soon
Watch the Eastern Towhee
▶Video coming soon
