I saw him out in the driveway early this week, just sitting there as if to say, “What am I doing here?”
It was an Eastern Towhee, the first one I’ve ever seen in or near my yard. Some of my friends in Orange and Louisa have towhees, but we have not been so fortunate.
Towhees are members of the sparrow family and are easily the loveliest and most colorful with a cluster of orange, black, brown and white feathers. They have long tails with a white tip, which makes them appear to be larger than they are. But they are about the same size as an ordinary song sparrow.
Like all sparrows they like to scratch around on the ground for food. They’ll fly up to a feeder, but prefer to scratch for their meals.
Towhees have a wide range, extending from Florida up into Canada and as far west as Illinois. They prefer edges along woods and are not as domesticated as their other sparrow cousins.
Towhees have a distinct “Chewink” call and some call them Chewinks. They feed on what they can find, ranging from insects to seeds to berries when available. Beetles, caterpillars, moths, bugs, ants, and spiders are among their preferred entrees.
The colorful birds prefer nesting on the ground, which is why they are not as urbanized as other sparrows. Good nesting habitat is hard to find in subdivisions.
I haven’t seen my little friend since that one morning. I expect he was just passing through, but if he’d stick around, I’d gladly toss out a few extra seeds on the ground.