Mr. Towhee where are you?

Every year, during the snowy days of early February, an Eastern Towhee comes to my feeders. He hangs around for about a week, and then he’s gone. Last year a female showed up on April 26, but she didn’t stay. Every now and then in spring and summer I can hear him in the woods off in the distance singing his “Drink your tea-eeeee” song, and I always hope he is on his way to our house, but he never is.

Last weekend Larry photographed this 

beautiful towhee in his backyard. 

Larry only lives about 20 minutes from our house, and he gets towhees all the time. What does he have that we don’t? Hmmm…well, I guess that would be thick woods…lots and lots of thick woods…and a pond. 

Here is a lovely shot Larry took of an Eastern Towhee 

in ice-encased Lemon Balm. I’m planting Lemon Balm 

this summer. Maybe that will lure him in. 

I can put in a small pond too!

…or maybe the towhee hasn’t stuck around because I can’t seem to get his new name right. No matter how hard I try, Rufous-sided Towhee still pops into my mind when I see one. That’s how I learned it 20+ years ago in my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern Region, and I can’t seem to shake it. I’m getting better though, four out of five times I now say Eastern Towhee instead of Rufous-sided, but I still have to think about it. I think the name change occurred around 1995. You’d think I’d have it by now.

He is such a handsome bird, and it’s fun to listen 

to the rustle of the leaves and watch him jumping 

forward and back kicking up the leaf litter as 

he looks for seeds and invertebrates. 

…from this moment on, when I hear "Drink your tea-eeeee," I’m going to say Eastern Towhee. I can do it. Let’s see if that will bring him to my yard.

Ack, I’m doomed. As soon as I looked 

at this fellow, rufous-sided came to mind....