Rondeau Ric

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 21, 2020. Immature towhee hanging around the pond in the yard. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhees are likely to visit – or perhaps live in – your yard if you’ve got brushy, shrubby, or overgrown borders. If your feeders are near a vegetated edge, towhees may venture out to eat fallen seed. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/

An eastern towhee at our small pond. Oct 3, 2017, Rondeau Provincial Park. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhees tend to be pretty solitary, and they use a number of threat displays to tell other towhees they’re not welcome. You may see contentious males lift, spread, or droop one or both wings, fan their tails, or flick their tails to show off the white spots at the corners. Studies have shown that male towhees tend to defend territories many times larger than needed simply to provide food. source -  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/

Lots of birds still coming to the pond including this Eastern Towhee. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhees tend to be pretty solitary, and they use a number of threat displays to tell other towhees they’re not welcome. You may see contentious males lift, spread, or droop one or both wings, fan their tails, or flick their tails to show off the white spots at the corners. Studies have shown that male towhees tend to defend territories many times larger than needed simply to provide food. source - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/lifehistory

We more often hear the call than see the bird. This one was in the front yard and I managed to open the door and get a few photos. 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.

A winter towhee. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We don't normally have towhees in our area during winter but this one is wintering at the visitor centre at Rondeau Provincial Park. They are a summer bird that breeds in southern Ontario and migrate to warmer areas in the winter. Towhees eat many foods: seeds, fruits, insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and snails, as well as soft leaf and flower buds in spring. They also eat seeds and fruits, including ragweeds, smartweeds, grasses, acorns, blackberries, blueberries, wheat, corn, and oats. Source- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Pipilo erythrophthalmus The oldest known Eastern Towhee was 12 years, 3 months old.

California Towhee , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. A drab bird about 9 inches long that likes to hide in bushes. Definitely the least colourful towhee we have seen. Still it was another first. Someday I should add up the birds we have seen. Pipilo crissalis