Eastern Towhees
Eastern towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) visit Central Park and many other parks in the New York area. These members of the New World sparrows can be spotted digging away furtively in the undergrowth. This makes them difficult to find and even more difficult to photograph and film. But when we do get a chance to see them, we're always taken by the pattern of their feathers and how they seem to jump backwards as they dig for the seeds, fruit, insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes and soft leaves and flower buds that make up their diets. And when they sing, the angels applaud.
I heard this eastern towhee singing his heart out at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on May 31, 2021.
I've done one Filming the Feathers video of the Eastern Towhee. It covers footage from 2013 through March 2016.
February 11, 2014
Left: March 4, 2016, north of the Boathouse. Right: April 18, 2015.
Left: March 8, 2015; center: Oct. 25, 2014; right: Oct. 24, 2014
Left: Oct. 24, 2014; right: Oct, 20, 2014
Left to right: Feb. 11, 2014; Feb. 7, 2014; Feb. 6, 2014; Oct. 20, 2013
