Eastern towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) is a species in the family Passerellidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 39.3 g to 41.3 g and live up to 11.8 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the eastern towhee
- Weight
- 39.3 g – 41.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 11.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 12.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.63src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the eastern towhee live?
Not recorded
What is the eastern towhee?
The eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), also known as chewink, joree, or joree bird, is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the spotted towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee.
Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across eastern North America. They nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States. One individual of this species was recorded as a vagrant to western Europe, a single bird in Great Britain in 1966.
The song is a short drink your teeeeea lasting around one second, starting with a sharp call ("drink!") and ending with a short trill "teeeeea". The name "towhee" is onomatopoeic description of one of the towhee's most common calls, a short, two-part call rising in pitch and sometimes also called a "chewink" call.
From the Wikipedia article “Eastern towhee” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_towhee&oldid=1380663622), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the eastern towhee sound like?
Is the eastern towhee endangered?
The eastern towhee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the eastern towhee classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPasserellidae
- genusPipilo
- SpeciesPipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Fringilla leucomelas, Pipilo erythropthalmus
Other names and names in other languages (54)
- Eastern rufous-sided towheeEnglish
- Rufous-sided towheeEnglish
- طوهي شرقيArabic
- Pinsà emmantellatCatalan
- toquí emmantellatCatalan
- pipilo rudookýCzech
- towhî ystlysgochWelsh
- Rødsidet BuskspurvDanish
- RötelgrundammerGerman
- Rötel-GrundammerGerman
- Ερυθρόφθαλμο ΤσιχλόνιGreek
- Ruĝokula pipiloEsperanto
- rufaflanka pasereloEsperanto
- Toquí pintoSpanish
- Rascador MoteadoSpanish
- Rascador zarceroSpanish
- Toquí flanquirrufoSpanish
- Toquí flanquirufoSpanish
- punakülg-maasidrikEstonian
- loistopipiloFinnish
- tohi à flancs rouxFrench
- Gealóg shliosruaIrish
- Towhee ruy-lhiatteeaghManx
- אדום־עיןHebrew
- טואי אדום-עיןHebrew
- kestenjastoboki strnadarCroatian
- tarka avarsármányHungarian
- JarðtittlingurIcelandic
- Tòui fianchirossiItalian
- pipilo fianchirossi occhirossiItalian
- ワキアカトウヒチョウJapanese
- Rudašonis pipilisLithuanian
- raudonakis pipilasLithuanian
- rudsānu stērsteLatvian
- RoodflanktowieDutch
- rødsidetoviNorwegian
- Makade-aayaanakOjibwa
- pipil rudobocznyPolish
- pipilo-d'olho-vermelhoPortuguese
- pipilo-de-olho-vermelhoPortuguese
- toqui-de-flancos-ruivosPortuguese
- Красноглазый тауиRussian
- Красноглазый тохиRussian
- RuksessiidocihciNorthern Sami
- strnádlik červenookýSlovak
- črnoglavi čivkačSlovenian
- Istočni pipiloSerbian
- brunsidig snårsparvSwedish
- Brunsidig BusksparvSwedish
- Ala PipiloTurkish
- Kızıl Böğürlü ToviTurkish
- тауї східнийUkrainian
- 棕胁唧鹀Chinese
- 棕脇鵖鵐Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the eastern towhee
Other species in the same genus Pipilo.
Green-tailed towhee
Pipilo chlorurus
Spotted towhee
Pipilo maculatus
Collared towhee
Pipilo ocai
Bermuda towhee
Pipilo naufragus
CompareEastern towhee vs Green-tailed towheeEastern towhee vs Spotted towheeEastern towhee vs Collared towheeEastern towhee vs Bermuda towhee
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the eastern towhee?
An adult eastern towhee weighs 39.3 g – 41.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the eastern towhee endangered?
The eastern towhee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the eastern towhee live?
The eastern towhee has a recorded lifespan of 11.8 years.
What kind of animal is the eastern towhee?
The eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) belongs to the family Passerellidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-towhee
“Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-towhee.
@misc{eastern_towhee_2026,
title = {Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-towhee},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}