I've had several folks question if possibly I got the identification of my towhee photo wrong when I identified it as an Eastern Towhee instead of a Rufous-sided Towhee. Maybe...maybe not. According to my usually trusty National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (© 1994) there is only one towhee with similar markings and coloring to the one in my photo and that's the Rufous-sided Towhee.
However, upon further investigation I found several sites that attest the Towhee is now considered to have two species (click on the names to see photos of each):
"Rufous-sided Towhee" - old name, is now split into two species:
Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus and
Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
(I've pulled this info from Wikipedia, (mainly because I love this site so much),
but if you google either of the above birds, you'll find much information on both.)
Hmm...maybe we should do what my 2 year old niece does
and just call all our feathered friends: "Ooo...Pretty Birdie!".
~~~
xoabb
expect new knowledge just about any time!
My Sibley calls it Eastern Towhee and my Peterson calls it the Rufous-sided Towhee. Neither guide had both names, so I would say call it what you want! The Spotted Towhee is called the Western Towhee in my books. Mostly call it beautiful :-)
ReplyDeleteHey its a nice shot .. and I'm with you .. its a pretty birdie!
ReplyDelete