Spotted Towhee-Western birds

I spotted this Spotted Towhee along Highway 128 in S. Utah; 6/11/2011.

Amnother western bird that is common in brushy habitats is the Spotted Towhee (Above). We were driving along the scenic Highway 128 going towards Moab, Utah, when the scenery became so beautiful, we had to stop and take pictures (Below). While we were parked in a sandy pulloff, exploring the area, I heard the Towhee and waited patiently for it to appear on an open branch in the bushes along side the Colorado River. It obliged. Later on I saw lots of Spotted Towhees in southern California in Newport Beach and in San Diego.

The beautiful scenery of Southeastern Utah, Hwy 128 ran along the Colorado River. In the distance you can see the La Sal Mts. It's not often you can capture white-capped mountains in a high desert environment; 6/11/2011.

Hwy 128 soon left the lush river habitat and opened up into this vast desert with the buttes and mesas as its backdrop, S. Utah; 6/11/2011.

Okay - back to the Spotted Towhee. These beautifully marked birds can be found from the northern plains of Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Montana through the Rocky Mt. ranges and westward to the Pacific Coast from Canada in the north to Mexico in the south. In winter they will migrate slightly west into the plains and deserts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

A Spotted Towhee singing away, S.UT; 6/11/2011.

Spotted Towhees (Above) look much like our Eastern Towhee with its completely black head, rufous flanks and white belly. The main difference is that the Spotted Towhee has white spots on its wings, whereas the Eastern Towhee's wings remain all black except for one white patch at the base of its primaries ( see my post about Eastern Towhees - http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/06/eastern-towhee-late-april-migration-to.html )

Sunset of the Day

Sunset in Bauman Park, Rockford, IL; 4/9/2007.