Eastern Towhee

Eastern Towhees nest on or near the ground. They spend most of their time on the ground, scratching at leaves using both of their feet at the same time - in a really cute kind of backwards hop. This one appeared to be considering make a nest under this rhododendron bush. Hopefully it chooses a safer spot because this yard has daily fox, opossum, and cat visitors.

Spotted in a rural, woodsy backyard habitat.

comments (3)

Christine Young

Lion

You can see an eastern towhee doing their backwards hop right after the 2 minute mark in this video:
Posted 7 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  That's a cool little detail, front-leg digging whilst only having one pair of legs. Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    It was funny to watch. She(?) was really going at it for awhile. Posted 7 years ago

The Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the Spotted Towhee were considered a single species, the Rufous-sided Towhee.

Info 6 0

Similar species: Perching Birds

Species identified by Christine Young