Eastern Towhee

Look for

A big, bold, ground-dwelling sparrow — yes, it's a sparrow. Males: jet-black head/back/wings, rufous-orange sides, white belly, and red eye. Females: same pattern but warm chocolate-brown replaces the black. Both have white wing patches visible in flight and long rounded tails with white corners.

Size: ~8.5" — nearly robin-sized. The largest common sparrow in the East.

Listen for

• Song: the classic "drink-your-TEA!" — two short notes followed by a buzzy trill. Unmistakable once learned.
• Call: a sharp, rising "tow-HEE!" — the name comes from this call.
• Scratching: loud double-footed leaf-kicking from dense brush — sounds like a squirrel rummaging.

The scratch is often the first clue. You hear rustling in leaf litter, look down, and find a Towhee.

Where in Memphis / region

Common year-round in brushy habitat:

• Dense understory at forest edges
• Brushy thickets and hedgerows
• Shrubby clearings and power-line cuts
• Garden edges with leaf mulch

Widespread — present at most Memphis-area parks with brushy understory:

• Shelby Farms brushy edges
• Overton Park forest understory
• Meeman-Shelby bluff forest edges
• All Middle TN state parks with shrub habitat

Behavior

• Ground forager — spends most of its time on the ground in leaf litter.
• Double-scratch technique: jumps forward and rakes both feet backward simultaneously, flipping leaves to expose hidden insects and seeds. This distinctive motion is shared with Fox Sparrow.
• Skulking — stays low in dense brush. More often heard than seen.
• Territorial singer — males sing from exposed perches above the brush, often the only time they're visible.
• Short-distance migrant — northern populations move south in winter; Memphis birds are mostly resident.

Story

The sparrow that doesn't look like a sparrow

Eastern Towhees confuse beginning birders because they look nothing like the little brown sparrows people expect. They're big, boldly colored, and forage on the ground — leading many people to think they're seeing a small robin or some exotic species. The revelation that this striking bird is actually a member of the sparrow family (Passerellidae) is a classic birding education moment.

The old name "Rufous-sided Towhee" was more descriptive — it was split from Spotted Towhee (western counterpart) in 1995, and the name changed to Eastern Towhee.

The leaf-kicking machine

The double-footed backward scratch is one of the most distinctive foraging behaviors in North American birds. Towhees hop forward and then kick both feet backward simultaneously, raking through leaf litter to expose seeds, insects, and invertebrates hiding underneath. On quiet mornings, you can hear this scratching from 50+ feet away.

This technique is so effective that Towhees spend up to 80% of their foraging time on the ground, even though they're capable flyers.

The red eye

Eastern Towhees have striking ruby-red eyes (adults) — one of the most vivid eye colors in the sparrow family. Juveniles start with dark eyes that gradually turn red during their first year. The species name erythrophthalmus literally means "red-eyed" in Greek.

In the Southeast, some populations have white eyes instead of red — this geographic variation once led ornithologists to consider them a separate subspecies.

Fun facts

• Oldest known wild Eastern Towhee: 12+ years.
• The "drink-your-tea" mnemonic is one of the most famous in American birding.
• They were formerly called Rufous-sided Towhee until the 1995 split.
• Cowbird parasitism is a major threat — Brown-headed Cowbirds frequently target Towhee nests.
• They roost on the ground in leaf litter — unusual for a songbird.
• Population declining ~2.5% per year as understory habitat is lost to development and forest maturation.

Field notes (to add)

• Shelby Farms brushy edge locations
• Audio: drink-your-tea song + tow-HEE call
• Photo: male vs female plumage comparison