Eastern Towhee

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, March 21, 2021.


This male towhee showed up in our yard Sunday, routing through the underbrush and tossing leaves.
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Eastern Towhees are common victims of the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird. Female cowbirds lay eggs in towhee nests, then leave the birds to raise their cowbird young. In some areas cowbirds lay eggs in more than half of all towhee nests. Towhees, unlike some other birds, show no ability to recognize or remove the imposter’s eggs. Female cowbirds typically take out a towhee egg when laying their own, making the swap still harder to notice.
Source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds

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