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Towhees

Ashton Kluttz and Dana A. Glei

Natural History

Towhees belong to the Passerellidae family, which also includes New World Sparrows and Juncos.
Towhees fall into two groups: the rufous‐sided complex (Pipilo spp.) and the brown towhee com-
plex (Melozone spp.). This chapter focuses on two species encountered in coastal Northern
California: California Towhees (Melozone crissalis) and Spotted Towhees (Pipilo maculatus). Other
species of towhees found in the Western U.S. include Canyon Towhees (Melozone fusca), Abert’s
Towhee (Melozone aberti), and the Green‐Tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus). Eastern Towhees
(Pipilo erthrophthalmus) are found east of the Rockies and two species are endemic to Mexico: the
White‐Throated Towhee (Melozone albicollis) and the Collared Towhee (Pipilo ocai). The now
extinct Bermuda Towhee (Pipilo naufragus) was endemic to Bermuda and closely related to the
Eastern Towhee.
California and Spotted Towhees build a cup nest, often near the ground. Clutch size is typically
two to three eggs for California (Benedict et al. 2011) and three to five eggs for Spotted Towhees
(Bartos Smith and Greenlaw 2015). They may raise more than one brood per year. California
Towhees feed their hatchlings solely animal food, mostly grasshoppers and caterpillars, but when
the nestlings are 10 days old, parents begin introducing a small amount (<10%) of vegetable matter,
mostly fiber with little fruit; at 2 weeks, the diet is still up to 95% animal‐based – mostly beetles,
wasps, and ants with fewer grasshoppers, caterpillars, and spiders (Benedict et al. 2011). Less is
known regarding the diet fed to Spotted Towhee chicks, but it includes moths, caterpillars, grass-
hoppers, insect larvae, along with some seeds (Bartos Smith and Greenlaw 2015). As adults,
California Towhees eat primarily seeds/grains (~80%) with ~15% insects (especially beetles and
grasshoppers) and ~5% fruit (Benedict et al. 2011), whereas Spotted Towhees’ diet differs between
the breeding season (primarily insects) and nonbreeding period (mostly plant‐based: seeds and
fruit) (Bartos Smith and Greenlaw 2015).

Why Are Towhees So Troublesome for Rehabilitators?
California Towhees are wary, furtive birds and easily stressed in captivity (Kasper 1998). Young
towhees notoriously are troublesome for rehabilitators because of their reluctance or outright
refusal to gape, which is exacerbated by trauma, pain, and captivity‐induced stress. The rare
Spotted Towhee may be less problematic than the ubiquitous California Towhee, but towhees may
starve themselves to death before they will gape.

Hand-Rearing Birds, Second Edition. Edited by Rebecca S. Duerr and Laurie J. Gage.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.