Spotted Towhee

Pipilo maculatus

The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. Literature before 1995 referred to the spotted towhee as a rufous-sided towhee that resides in the western United States. An archaic name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.

The form that breeds on Socorro Island is much smaller than other rufous-sided towhees, and has gray upperparts. It is sometimes split as the Socorro towhee (Pipilo socorroensis).