Spotted Towhee
Photo: Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California · CC BY 2.0

New World Sparrows

Spotted Towhee

Pipilo maculatus

NENot Evaluated
Family
New World Sparrows (Passerellidae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, then named rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.