Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyPasserellidae (New World Sparrows)
- GenusPipilo (Typical Towhees)
- SpeciesPipilo maculatus (Spotted Towhee)
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 Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus).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. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Riding Mountain National Park
Eastern Towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
White-throated Sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerina
Swamp Sparrow
Melospiza georgiana
Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
Clay-colored Sparrow
Spizella pallida
Lincoln's Sparrow
Melospiza lincolnii
LeConte's Sparrow
Ammospiza leconteii
Savannah Sparrow
Passerculus sandwichensis
White-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys
Vesper Sparrow
Pooecetes gramineus
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Spotted Towhee at Riding Mountain National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there