Spotted towhee

Spotted towhee
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
Genus: Pipilo
Species:
P. maculatus
Binomial name
Pipilo maculatus
Swainson, 1827

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, the rufous-sided towhee. [2] Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.

Individuals in the Socorro Island population are much smaller than other spotted towhees, and show distinctive gray upper-parts. That population is sometimes treated as a species: the Socorro towhee (Pipilo socorroensis).

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Pipilo maculatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T103772680A95006324. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103772680A95006324.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference r9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).