Eastern Towhee

About the Eastern Towhee
Also known as: Rufous-sided Towhee, Red-eyed Towhee, Towhee
Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee is a large species of sparrow that lives across eastern parts of North America. They breed across the northeast quadrant of the U.S. and into Canada; year-round they can be found in much of the southeast USA.

Male Eastern Towhees are striking with black heads, rufous sides, and white bellies. Female plumage follows a similar pattern, though they are duller overall.

Towhees feed by foraging for seeds or insects on the ground. They scratch at leaf litter by scooting backwards with both feet to reveal potential meals among the debris.

Find cute products & gifts with our Birdorable Eastern Towhee

Details & Statistics

Conservation

The Eastern Towhee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

International Names

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