Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Rufous- Sided Towhee)

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Dutch:

Roodflanktowhee

Common Names in English:

Alabama Towhee, Arctic Towhee, Bullfinch, Bush-Bird, Cape Colnett Towhee, Chewink, Eastern Towhee, Florida Towhee, Foree, Grasel, Ground Robin, Ground-Robin, Guadalupe Towhee, Joree, Large-Billed Towhee, Low-Ground-Stephen, Marsh Robin, Mountain Towhee, Nevada Towhee, Oregon Towhee, Red-Eyed Towhee, Rufous- Sided Towhee, Rufous-Sided Towhee, Sacramento Towhee, San Clemente Towhee, San Diego Towhee, San Francisco Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Spurred Towhee, Swamp Robin, Texas Towhee, Towhee, Towhee Bunting, Towhee Ground Finch, Turkey Sparrow, White-Eyed Towhee

Common Names in French:

Tohi � Flancs Roux, Tohi à Flancs Roux

Common Names in German:

Grundammer, Rötelgrundammer

Common Names in Italian:

Pipilo Fianchirossi

Common Names in Japanese:

ワキアカトウヒチョウ

Common Names in Spanish:

Chingolo Punteado, ToquÌ Pinto, Toquí Pinto, Toqu� Pinto

Common Names in Swedish:

Brunsidad Busksparv

Common Names in unspecified:

Rufous-Sided Towhee

Description

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Family Fringillidae

A Family of seed-eating, small to moderately large passerine birds that have strong , stubby beaks, which in some species can be quite large. They have a bouncing flight, alternating flapping with gliding on closed wings. Most sing well.

Physical Description

Adult Female: Head : Hood : brown Body: Sides: rufous Underparts: white Upperparts: brown Wings: Tertials: brown with white edges Tail: brown with white outer feathers Undertail Coverts: tawny buff.Adult Red Morph : Head: Shape : tufted Face : Eye Color: yellow Bill: pale Body: bright rusty brown to gray Upperparts: streaked.

Size/Age/Growth

About 7 to 7.5 inches long, with a wingspan of 10 to 11 inches. Adults weigh about 1.5 ounces .

Habitat

The habitat of this species is similar all year, primarily because this species is not migratory. Habitats having a thick understory and shrub layer are important for the Eastern Towhee.

Vegetation: tropical lowland evergreen forest, pine-oak forests, arid lowland scrubs, second-growth scrub, arid lowland scrubs, riparian thickets, arid montane scrubs • Maximum Elevation: 3,500 meters • Foraging Strata: Terrestrial • Center of Abundance: Upper montaine: mountains, upper range, above 3,600 m. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low

Ecology:
List of Habitats :1.9Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane 3.6Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Moist 3.7Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude 14.6Artificial/Terrestrial - Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

Biology

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Diet

The diet consists mostly of insects, fruits, and seeds. The Eastern Towhee forages by scratching at leaf litter and picking food items off the ground or nearby vegetation.

Reproduction

The breeding season begins in mid-April, peaks from May to early June, and extends until mid-August. Breeding habitat for this species includes woodland areas with a dense understory and shrub layer. The nest is usually placed in or under a thicket or shrub from 0-1.5 m (0-5 feet) above the ground . The nest is cup-shaped when above the ground, and is a depression scratched into the soil when on the ground. The nest is built by the female out of leaves, grass , and other plant material . The female lays 2-6 (usually 3-4) eggs that she incubates for 12-13 days. The young are altricial and fledge 10-12 days after hatching . The young are cared for by both adults , but only the female broods the young while they are in the nest. After the young fledge, the family group will stay together through the summer.

Breeding Habitat: Successional-scrub
Nest Location: Ground-low nesting
Nest Type: Open-cup
Clutch Size: 3-5
Length of Incubation : 12-13? days
Days to Fledge: 10-12
Number of Broods: 2, occasionally 3 in south

Migration

Northern birds migrate

The Eastern Towhee has a distinctive song that sounds like drink-your-teaaaaaa. Their call sounds like their name , tow-whee.

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Animalia () - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
  - Subkingdom: Bilateria () - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
    - Branch: Deuterostomia () - Grobben, 1908
      - Infrakingdom: Chordonia () - (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
        Phylum: Chordata () - Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
        Subphylum: Vertebrata () - Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
        Infraphylum: Gnathostomata () - Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
        Superclass: Tetrapoda () - Goodrich, 1930
        Class: Aves () - Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
        Subclass: Neornithes () - Gadow, 1893
        Infraclass: Neoaves ()
        Superorder: Passerimorphae ()
        Order: Passeriformes () - C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
        Suborder: Passeri ()
        Parvorder: Passerida ()
        Superfamily: Passeroidea ()
        Family: Fringillidae () - Buntings, Finches
        Subfamily: Emberizinae ()
        Tribe: Emberizini ()
        Genus: Pipilo () - (Linnaeus, 1758)
        Specific name: erythrophthalmus - (Linnaeus, 1758)
        Scientific name: - Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Unambiguous Synonyms

Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

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Spotted Towhee

Members of the genus Pipilo

There are approximately 88 species in this genus:

Bibliography

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Bird Reference Citations. The numbers inserted in the text accounts above (usually in bold) refer to references. For further details on these references, click on the BirdLife International link above to go to the specific species account on the BirdLife web site. In some cases, particularly in the taxonomic notes, the references are cited using the author names. Details for these can be found on the BirdLife International web site at the following two places: For References from A–L. For References from M–Z.
BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.

More Info

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Search for Pictures: images.google.com
Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Notes

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Contributors

BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 06, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 13 providers.
Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
NatureServe. 2003. Downloadable animal data sets. NatureServe Central Databases. Accessed February 6, 2005.
Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
The Georgia Museum of Natural History and Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 17, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 06, 2008:

Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
Bird Studies Canada: Marsh Monitoring Program - Birds
Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Bird Collection
EMAN Provider: PIROP (Shipboard Surveys)
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Ornithology Collection
New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
University of Colorado Museum: Zoological specimens
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3850297
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-179292
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13832395
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 179276
IUCN ID: 53589
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABPBX74030
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 248