Spotted Towhee

The Spotted Towhee is a regal and handsome bird of sunbaked thickets of the west. A common bird, it can be hard to spot low in the thickets or in leaf litter. It is more often heard before it is seen. They breed and are year round residents of southwestern Canada, much of the western US and north central Mexico. They winter in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and northwestern Mexico.

Adult Male (spring/summer)

Black hood extending to top of breast and nape. Eyes red. Belly is white. Flanks are very dark rufous-red and undertail coverts rufous. Back, rump and uppertail coverts black. Tail is long and black with white at tips of outer tail feathers. Wings are black with very limited prominent white markings.

Adult Female (spring/summer)

Similar to adult male but hood is brownish.

Juvenile

Hood is brownish, belly is brown streaked and rufous flanks are absent. Wing white spots not as prominent and red eye colour is dull.

General:

Larger and stockier than sparrow with long tail. Length: 17-21cm. Wing: 28cm. Weight: 33-49grams.

Behaviour:

Towhees forage on ground by scratching vigorously in leaf litter for seeds and insects. They tend to hop wherever they go, moving deliberately and giving themselves plenty of time to spot food items. They scratch at leaves with a characteristic two-footed backward hop, and pounce on anything they’ve uncovered. During conflicts between two towhees, you may see one bird pick up a piece of twig, bark, or leaf and carry it around. This seems to be an indication of submission. While breeding insects are the main diet and during non-breeding acorns, berries and seeds are the dominant foods.

Habitat:

Spotted Towhees prefer open, shrubby habitat with thick undergrowth. They can also be found in backyards, forest edges, hedgerows and forested areas with thick ground or shrub cover and plenty of leaf litter for foraging.

Information:

Spotted Towhees tend to be resident birds or short distant migrants. The nest is built on the ground or near it. A framework of dry leaves, stems and bark is lined with an inner cup of fine dry materials. 2-6 white, gray, green or pinkish spotted with reddish brown or gray eggs are laid.

Similar species:

Eastern Towhee.

Conservation Status:

Listed as Least Concern. Widespread and abundant and increasing in some areas where development has cause increase in suitable habitat.

Capture Rates:

The Spotted Towhee is a year round resident of the thickets and brushy habitat of Colony Farm. Capture rates peak during the summer months with the dispersal of hatch year birds throughout the banding area.

Molt Summary:

PF: HY partial-incomplete: PB: AHY complete; PA absent-limited
Preformative molt usually includes all med and gr covs (occasionally the outermost gr covert can be retained), often 1 – 3 terts, and 0 to all 12 rects.
PAs sometimes include some throat feathers.

This HY male in October has replaced lesser, median and greater coverts, all 3 tertials and alula feathers and is showing a clear molt limit between the outer greater covert and inner primary covert and between S6 and S7 (red arrows). Notice the lightly pigmented and brownish primary coverts contrasting with the fresher, blackish greater coverts.

This HY female in August is at the start of its partial preformative molt replacing lesser and median coverts (red arrow), all other feathers at this stage are retained juvenal. Notice the brownish remiges (primaries and secondaries) with brownish rachises of the female compared to the blackish remiges with blackish rachises of the male above and lightly pigmented, abraded and brownish primary coverts. Notice also the amount of wear to the tips of the as yet unmolted greater coverts.

These three SY males in February are showing similar patterns of replaced and retained feathers with clear molt limits between replaced greater coverts and retained primary coverts (red arrows). Notice that in this species all 3 alula feathers are also replaced and often one to all of the tertials.
Notice again the very washed out and brownish primary coverts contrasting with the fresher, blackish greater coverts and alula and wear to the tips of the retained juvenal primaries and secondaries especially in the first example.

These two SY males in May are also showing similar patterns of feather replacement but also emphasize the importance of wear when considering the age of feathers. Both show how poorly structured retained juvenal feathers wear more quickly than adult feathers as illustrated by the wear to the tips of the visible primaries and secondaries.
Feather exposure to sun and abrasion is the major cause of feather deterioration and is especially hard on juvenal feathers. Exposure wears down feathers both through structural weakening and break-down as a result of solar irradiation, and through physical abrasion against foliage and the ground. Because juvenal feathers are of poor quality, they tend to wear down and fade more rapidly than subsequently grown feathers.

Tail shape is helpful in ageing many species being tapered and more abraded on retained juvenal feathers in first year birds (HY/SY) and broad and truncate with a corner to the inner web and relatively fresh in adults (AHY/ASY). The outer retrices (R4-R6) generally show the greatest age specific differences.
However, it is important not to use tail shape alone as it is generally not very reliable because of a) individual variation and b) the possibility of accidental loss and replacement (adventitious molt). For this reason and the fact that tail feathers are frequently lost and replaced between normal molts tail feather shape must be used with great caution by banders, and only with other supporting characters (e.g., molt limits), when determining the ages of birds in hand. This is especially true for Spotted Towhees which may replace all rectrices in the 1st PB and can therefore show uniformly truncate rectrices in first year (HY/SY) birds.

This SY male in January is showing quite tapered and extremely worn rectrices. Notice the blackish tail feathers of the male versus brownish of females and the very limited amount of white to R4 (red arrow) which can also be helpful in determining age and sex by subspecies.

Iris colour is also helpful in determining age in Spotted Towhee being dull pinkish-brow through the winter in HY/SY birds like this HY male in October.

Iris colour transitions over the winter months becoming reddish-orange like this SY male in May.

By the end of the winter/early spring the iris colour becomes bright red. The photo below shows an adult (AHY) male in October.

This AHY male in October is a prime example of what definitive adult male plumage, with no discernible molt limits among the coverts or alula, looks like in the fall/winter. Notice the uniformly adult and glossy black feathers, broad, truncate and fresh primary coverts not contrasting in colour or wear with the greater coverts, and the fresh, glossy black visible primaries and secondaries with very little wear to the tips.