Ok, maybe not that different. I was taking some garden photos this morning when a 'tangle' of Spotted Towhees flew in and started gobbling up all my snail bait. Sluggo is supposed to be non-toxic to wildlife, so I hope this guy enjoys his corn meal and iron phosphate breakfast.



I used Whatbird.com to identify this mature male Pipilo maculatus. His call is certainly familiar, but I had never matched the sound to the bird. He is standing there with his prize in a pot of Aloe arborescens. Gotta love those red eyes, I hope enjoyed seeing him as much as I did!

Brad

Brad, love the picture. I want to see more of your wonderful garden so let's see what else you took pics of this morning.

Def. not one from here. Nice picture Brad!
Harry

ps. What 's the Aloe?

Very nice! I've only seen that species of bird a 10-12 times. We are in their wintering zone. One will occasionally come to my feeding station.

Beautiful shot!
We have their Rufous-sided cousins here, but I only rarely see them in the yard. They're pretty shy.

Hi, all.

Brad - He's lovely! Can't believe he's eating snail bait! We get them here, too, from about October until March.

Jen - I think spotted and rufous-sided towhees are the same guys. I had a big identification problem due to this at one point...I think it's kind of like lumping plants. Whatever the case, they sure are worth seeing...the crisp black on them is my favorite part!

Katie

Thanks for the kind comments all. I'm glad there are others here who like to see succulent birds (or is that birds and succulents?). According to Whatbird, the spotted towhee interbreeds readily with the California towhee (white and brown), and the Eastern towhee (more black, less white markings) resulting in hybrids. I'm pretty certain the one above is the spotted towhee.

Here is a female from the same flock (tangle) showing the whole pot of Aloe aborescens:



DG- I just finished editing several days worth of photos for web presentation. I'll be putting up some new photos soon in another thread.

Brad

I spent many hours in the hills south of Livermore Ca. snaping shots of the rufous-sided towhees.
I never saw a flock. Thier were pairs but even they kept there distance from each other. The only areas I could get close enough was in the heavy woods and they were always skittish and most trips lacked images of them.
I have boxes of 35mm slides of avian models in the Bay Area but no desire since digital to turn on the light box and take a gander.

Here are the subspecies of the Pipilo maculatus as of about 2007. I think you can find several of these that had been named The Rufious-sided and a one time I believe the umbrella for all subs were called Rufious-sided but of that I am not 100% certain.

Sub Pipilo maculatus arcticus (Swainson, 1832)
Sub Pipilo maculatus chiapensis Van Rossem, 1938
Sub Pipilo maculatus clementae Grinnell, 1897
Sub Pipilo maculatus consobrinus Ridgway, 1876
Sub Pipilo maculatus curtatus Grinnell, 1911
Sub Pipilo maculatus falcifer McGregor, 1900
Sub Pipilo maculatus falcinellus Swarth, 1913
Sub Pipilo maculatus gaigei Van Tyne & Sutton, 1937
Sub Pipilo maculatus griseipygius Van Rossem, 1934
Sub Pipilo maculatus macronyx Swainson, 1827
Sub Pipilo maculatus maculatus Swainson, 1827
Sub Pipilo maculatus magnirostris Brewster, 1891
Sub Pipilo maculatus megalonyx S. F. Baird, 1858
Sub Pipilo maculatus montanus Swarth, 1905
Sub Pipilo maculatus oaxacae Sibley, 1950
Sub Pipilo maculatus oregonus Bell, 1849
Sub Pipilo maculatus orientalis Sibley, 1950
Sub Pipilo maculatus repetens Griscom, 1930
Sub Pipilo maculatus socorroensis Grayson, 1867
Sub Pipilo maculatus umbraticola Grinnell & Swarth, 1926
Sub Pipilo maculatus vulcanorum Sibley, 1951
If you needed an expert for ID see if
Alan P. Peterson, M.D.
PO Box 1999 Walla Walla, Washington 99362-0999
is still kickin'
Ya know, there are very few times I side with the lumpers but in this case I must. Holy Moly!!!!!
Oh yea there are actually huge differences in this birds dialect from place to place. A few hundered miles and they can not have a clue what the other is saying. Sorta like the USA!!
Ah yes, to stay on subject they, at times, decend to the valleys, with cactus, if it gets too cold. I have yet to see this around Tucson.
Happy Day,
AZED