Birds of the Bosque

A spotted towhee is a type of sparrow with a thick pointed bill, short neck, chunky body and a long rounded tail. Spotted towhees hop over the ground beneath dense tangles of shrubs, scratching in leaf litter for food. While walking through the woods you'll hear the leaves rustle on occasion, and never be able to spot the cause, which is a little eerie to be honest. Towhees search for insects such as beetles, crickets, moths and bees or berries, seeds, and the like amongst the leaves on the forest floor. They fly into scrub while delivering their quick, buzzy song and generally build their nests on the forest floor in fairly exposed areas, deep inside thickets. Nests are composed of dry leaves, stems and bark strips, and are lined with grasses, pine needles and hair. The nests are about 4.5 inches across with an inner cup of 2.4-4 inches deep. Their clutch size is 2-6 eggs which, for a small bird, is pretty incredible. I rate the picture below at 5 out of 5 stars; a birders dream, ...