Songs
- Song
Recorded by Thomas G. Sander
Oregon April 1990
- Song
Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller
Oregon March 2002
- Song
Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller
Oregon June 1989
Courtesy of Macaulay Library
© Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Spotted Towhees have a fairly simple song, a drier faster take on the Eastern Towhee’s drink-your-tea song that often omits the middle section. It lasts about 1.5 seconds. The song starts with one or two (up to eight) short introductory notes and then a fast trill that can sound like a taut rubber band being plucked, or a piece of paper stuck into a fan. Some Spotted Towhee songs have just the trill phrase only.
Calls
Spotted Towhees make a catlike mew call, a little more than a half-second long. It seems to be used for scolding as well as by perched or foraging birds. Pairs sometimes exchange a soft, lisping call to stay in contact. Spotted Towhees also give a high, thin flight call.
Backyard Tips
Spotted Towhees are likely to visit – or perhaps live in – your yard if you’ve got brushy, shrubby, or overgrown borders. If your feeders are near a vegetated edge, towhees may venture out to eat fallen seed. If you want to attract towhees to your feeders, consider sprinkling some seed on the ground, as this is where towhees prefer to feed.
Find This Bird
You can find Spotted Towhee by walking slowly along the edges of forests, thickets, and overgrown fields. Listen for the Spotted Towhee’s whiny, cat-like mew call, its rapid song, or simply any rustling the bird makes in dry leaves. Look low in shrubs or along the ground in places with rich leaf litter and dense stems.
Get Involved
Keep track of the Spotted Towhees at your feeder with Project FeederWatch
Explore sounds and video of Spotted Towhees from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library archive
Enhance your yard for towhees and other birds. Visit our web pages on attracting birds.
Learn more about bird photography in our Building Skills section. Then contribute your images to the Birdshare flickr site, which helps supply All About Birds and our other websites with photos.