Spotted Towhees are seldom mentioned on obol.
In spite of being quite glamorous they're more or less kind of a dull bird.
If rare they would be highly sought-after but they aren't.
Like juncos they are around all year but numbers may increase in the winter.
But right now at our feeder they are not Dull. There are 10 of them hopping
around in a couple hundred square foot area around the feeder mostly just
forging in the leaf litter but occasionally going up to the feeder for suet
or seeds. Or apples. Eight or nine of them are males. I've never seen
anything like this before. They've been here three or four days. It'll be
interesting to see if they stay on or move farther south.
While on the subject, an apple tree outside our dining room window had the
most abundant fruit crop we have ever seen. We never spray it so the apples
are usually a little wormy or with blemishes but they make great applesauce
and the birds love them. There's still a few remaining on the tree and
these the birds Peck the top out of until eventually there's just a skin
left. There are lots of them still on the ground even though deer are
coming for them as well. One of them a three-point buck during hunting
season; we've never seen that before. Anyhow we also had the largest influx
of varied thrush a month or two ago that we've ever seen. Like the towhees
they were all over the place initially feeding only on the apples or in the
leaf litter under the tree because we had not put out bird food yet. They
showed up before any sort of inclement weather in the mountains even though
most Winters that's when they show up and in far fewer numbers than this
year. Yes they were attracted to the apples obviously but they couldn't
have known they were there. From afar. They're still quite a few of them
mixed in with the towhees.
A very interesting feeder year-- hope there's lots more to come. Bob obrien
Carver Oregon
