Scratching Up A Storm

Look down! That noise under your shrubs is a shy, ground-feeding towhee in search of its next meal.

- Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman

When dry leaves rustle beneath your shrubs, you may think it’s a fidgety squirrel at first, but look closer. If you hear an odd, sharp call through the noise, a towhee may be responsible for the racket. Crouch down low and peer through the dense branches to catch a glimpse of this secretive visitor.

A little larger than their sparrow relatives, towhees spend a lot of time on the hunt for seeds and insects by scratching at dry leaf litter on the ground. You might assume that a bird stands on one foot and scratches with the other, but towhees have their own approach: They jump in the air and kick backward with both feet, sending dry leaves flying and exposing their favorite foods.

Anywhere in the eastern half of the U.S., scratching sounds that come from under dense thickets could reveal the presence of an eastern towhee. Males of this species are mostly black and white while females are mostly brown and white, but they both show a wide stripe of reddish brown, or rufous, along the side of the body.