Spotted Towhee Return

As I was getting my morning cup of coffee this morning I hear the welcome wheek call of the spotted towhee. I hadn't thought about over the winter, but I hadn't heard my "bush birds" for months. Hearing their call again reminded me of their absence and brought cheer to my heart.

Though a fairly common an unspectacular Northwest native, towhees are nifty, industrious brush foragers who love the thicket of Oregon grape and salal in my yard. From spring through fall I often hear their scritch-scritching through the underbrush, looking for seeds, before I hear their bird call.

I can't find anything that tells me about their winter behaviour. However, they have definitely been absent for awhile, so I'm assuming there's some winter movement for these birds.

The Empire Strikes Back! Plastic bag bans around the country are being met by resistance and lawsuits by the plastic bag manufacturers and grocery chains.

Happy Friday and a great weekend to all the Hylebotians out there.

Comments

[Adele]

Chris,

The Spotted Towhee is a common year-round resident in Federal Way and Western WA. Birds tend to band together in large mixed species flocks during the winter months. In spring the birds dispurse into breeding pairs. The Towhee has many chips and calls, but in spring, most songbirds have a special song to attract a mate. So most likely the birds have been in and out of your area, but you're just enjoying the songs of the breeding season.