The answer to last week’s mystery is the eastern towhee.
The eastern towhee is a member of the sparrow family, and a year-round resident of Eastern Shore.
Male towhees are striking, with bold sooty black above and on the breast, warm reddish brown sides, and white on the belly. Females have the same pattern, but are rich brown where the males are black.
Towhees are usually shy sulkers and rush for cover at the slightest disturbance. They spend most of their time on the ground, scratching at leaves using both feet at the same time, in a kind of backwards hop.
Eastern towhees are not listed as threatened or endangered, but their numbers have been declining over the last few decades. Construction of subdivisions and the continued growth of shrublands into forests have made the landscape for eastern towhees less suitable. Towhees are important to the ecosystem because they consume pest insects and help to propagate the seeds of various plants.
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