For the Birds: Mysterious fledgling raises questions
The drab, speckle-breasted bird flipping pine straw in the yard had to be a fledgling. But who?
Usually we ID a cryptically-colored baby bird by who feeds it. With the obvious exception of fledgling cowbirds, adults feeding babies are most likely the biological parents. But no adults fed this juvenile, already quite capable of—and successful at—tossing mulch, leaf litter and pine straw to uncover hidden bugs, bug eggs and larva.
Similarly odd looking youngsters caused me pause in the past, and this sighting brought back memories of earlier ID challenges. The youngster's head and bill shape suggested some sort of sparrow or finch, but no sparrow or finch match the speckled breast and dark tail. Sure, it's common for fledgling birds to resemble mom, wearing the safety of camouflage. This youngster, though, wore unique plumage, nothing like either of its parents.
Three telling clues, though, gave it away. First, it showed prominent white stripes on its folded wings. Second, a hint of white flashed on the outer tail feathers when it flicked its tail. And third, it performed its characteristic two-footed scratch while foraging through leaf litter. Bingo! Eastern Towhee.
Indeed, towhees are our largest, and most striking, sparrow. Like most sparrows, they're ground dwellers,foraging there for bugs and seeds, hiding there amid dense undergrowth. And like some of their kin, towhees nest there, their neat cup-shaped abode sunk into leaves, perhaps tucked in at the base of brambles or other low-growing protective shrubby growth. At ground level, predation seems all but inevitable, so cryptic camo is key.
While towhees breed as far north as the Canadian border, they're year-round residents from southern Indiana south to the Gulf. So in our area, towhees will sometimes visit backyard feeders, especially in winter and early spring, foraging usually singly for spilled seeds. Winter before last, however, when snow cover made foraging tough, folks reported sometimes as many as six or eight towhees visiting simultaneously, even making unheard-of visits to suet feeders placed well above ground level. Birds adapt.
While they dine on a wide variety of foods, including bugs as well as grass and weed seeds, towhees will also take berries. A close look at the photo of the speckle-breasted juvenile in the yard reveals red smudges on its beak and face, tell-tale signs it's been snacking on the few remaining mulberries. In early spring, before they can find bugs or seeds, they eat sprouts, flower buds, and soft leaf parts.
Because they're edge birds, preferring shrubby borders and brushy, overgrown areas, towhee populations have waxed and waned across the southeastern US. When early settlers cleared lands for farming, towhee populations declined. When small farms were abandoned and once again turned shrubby, towhee populations rebounded. Now those overgrown lands have once more been cleared and developed, sprouting subdivisions instead of undergrowth. Thus, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, between 1966 and 2015, towhee populations declined 49 percent.
So this youngster, foraging alone in the yard, has overcome amazing odds. It survived the risks of ground-level nesting. No skunk, raccoon, snake, cat, or other predator found it. No cowbird parasitized the nest. (Cowbirds destroy about 50 percent of towhee nests). Now it's finding bugs and berries as well as shelter and protection in our native-plant yard.
For more information about birds and bird habitat, see Sharon Sorenson's books Birds in the Yard Month by Month and Planting Native to AttractBirds to Your Yard. Check her website atbirdsintheyard.com, follow daily bird activity on Facebook at SharonSorensonBirdLady, or email her at firstname.lastname@example.org.