This bird used to be called the rufous-sided towhee. Why’d they change its name? I don’t know. Maybe They Might Be Giants will write a song to explain.

The eastern towhee is a ground-feeding bird commonly seen in the Triangle area. Look under trees and shrubs – and under bird feeders. They hop and scrape the ground much like a brown thrasher, looking for insects and seeds to eat.

I used a reference photo I found online to paint this one. The original watercolor is about 5.5×7.5” on 8×10” Strathmore 500-series paper. Prints will be available at my booth at markets this summer.