Eastern Towhee: Don’t look up for this bird

Roger Simmons,

One of the interesting facts I’ve learned since I started birding is not to always look for birds in trees. Sometimes you need to look on the ground, and that’s the case for the Eastern Towhee.

I saw my first Eastern Towhee at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge back in March, but I’ve seen several more since then at the UCF Arboretum. The scrub bush landscape there is perfect for these colorful orange, white and black birds.

“Eastern Towhees are birds of the undergrowth, where their rummaging makes far more noise than you would expect for their size,” AllAboutBirds.com notes. Indeed, I’ve usually spotted them on the ground first – usually around sunset.  They might hop up into a bush, but I haven’t seen any atop a tree.

Here are some photos I’ve taken of Eastern Towhees at UCF over the past several weeks.

For a little bird, the Eastern Towhee can make a lot of noise and its flits around the ground feeding, like this one at the UCF Arboretum in July 2023.
An Eastern Towhee looks for some food while rummaging around on the ground at the UCF Arboretum in July 2023.
With its orange, white and black colors, the Eastern Towhee blends in well at the UCF Arboretum in June 2023.
Eastern Towhees, like this one at the UCF Arboretum in July 2023, are called oversized Sparrows.
The Eastern Towhee has a very distinctive song, making it easy to ID at the UCF Arboretum in July 2023.
This isn’t a place you expect to see an Eastern Towhee at the UCF Arboretum in July 2023. Usually they are found on the ground.
Birds UCF Arboretum

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