Yay! The National Audubon Society in conjunction with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology just declared the first week of April as “National California Towhee Week” and we couldn’t be happier!
We’ve always maintained that California Towhees never seem to get the respect they deserve, often unfairly relegated to simply the “boring brown bird” category. Well, those days are over – now, across the nation, birders everywhere are celebrating National California Towhee Week!
The timing of this celebration couldn’t be better for us coastal Californians. The California Towhee is the perfect bird to appreciate without having to travel outside your own neighborhood – an ideal “shelter-in-place” bird buddy.
These common brown beauties call a wide variety of habitats home, like to forage for dropped seeds underneath feeders, and are one of the more visible bird species. We’d be willing to guess that most Bay Area folks have a pair of California Towhees hopping around near the house this very moment!
We’ll be celebrating the week by writing a short blog post each day, exploring all the reasons we love California Towhees. Hope you enjoy the series!
If you’re interested in more about California Towhees, check out the rest of the series!
Day 2: California Towhee: Subtle Beauty
Day 3: California Towhee: What Are You Saying?
Day 4: California Towhee: Mates for Life
Day 5: California Towhee: Two Broods Are Better Than One!
Day 6: California Towhee: The “Birb” Factor
Day 7: California Towhee: Friend of the Fox
Oh, wonderful, I love the california towhees!
I see them looking in car side-view mirrors
We just read a neat term that describes how they will sometimes attack their own image in car mirrors and windows – “shadow boxing.”
yes, the spotted towhee gets all the love. go California Towhee!
Lucky you to have 5 different species of Towhee. In North-East we only have one, the Eastern Towhee – only 123 sighting reported on eBird for our area : Brome-Missisquoi, QC, CA. I wish you a great California Towhee Week !!!
You two have pointed out some interesting things about their alarm calls and song on our walks. Looking forward to learning more!.
The Cal Towhees at my house began celebrating early.
Looking forward to some more fun facts about the Towhees!! 🙂