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Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus
Audubon Illustration
John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.
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About the Spotted Towhee
The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, then named rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Pipilo maculatus
- Family
- New World Sparrows
- Order
- Passeriformes
Similar species
Other members of the new world sparrows family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.
- Abert's Towhee Melozone aberti
- American Tree Sparrow Spizelloides arborea
- Bachman's Sparrow Peucaea aestivalis
- Baird's Junco Junco bairdi
- Baird's Sparrow Centronyx bairdii
- Bell's Sparrow Artemisiospiza belli
- Black-chested Sparrow Peucaea humeralis
- Black-chinned Sparrow Spizella atrogularis
- Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata
- Botteri's Sparrow Peucaea botterii
- Brewer's Sparrow Spizella breweri
- Bridled Sparrow Peucaea mystacalis
Know when the Spotted Towhee turns up near you
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Optics
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