Distinctive markings: Male has a black head, back and tail with white belly, orange-red sides and red or white eyes. The ...

Claim to fame: When males are in bright courtship plumage in spring, the Eastern towhee is one of the more interestingly marked birds you’ll see at forest edges and in old overgrown fields throughout ...

An eastern towhee is back on my property. I didn’t see it, but heard its distinctive song, “drink your tea.” Before we talk about this bird’s behavior, let’s discuss its family, the Emberizids.

A male eastern towhee is quite dashing in appearance. Black above, white below and a lovely cinnamon-brown on the flanks give this bird the look of a tuxedoed gentleman on his way to some high-society ...

From forest edges and thickets on late spring mornings in the Northeast comes what sounds like an exhortation from across the pond: “drink-your-tea!” This is not a British parent’s plea, but rather ...

The eastern towhee is one of those birds that shows up erratically, and when it does show up is often overlooked. That is why a report from Thief River Falls caught my attention. Valerie Solem sent a ...

Often missed by birders, particularly those of us who hear poorly, is one of our most attractive species — the eastern towhee. Until 1995, it was called the rufous-sided towhee, a very descriptive ...

Usually you'll hear an Eastern Towhee before you see it. This common, colorful bird spends much of its time rustling around in the undergrowth, foraging noisily through leaf litter or creeping through ...

Last year I told you about a Baltimore oriole that was scratching on the ground under my birdfeeder. At the time you seemed skeptical saying, “It doesn’t sound like oriole behavior.” Well, the bird is ...

One of my favorite spring arrival birds, an eastern towhee, showed up in the back yard last week. I’m especially fond of this member of the sparrow family as its cheery song that sounds like “drink ...