Spotted towhee
Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827
The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a species in the family Passerellidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 38.8 g to 40.9 g and live up to 11 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the spotted towhee
- Weight
- 38.8 g – 40.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 11 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
- 3.5 – 3.63src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 18 months – 2 yearssrc 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 spotted towhee live?
Not recorded
What is the spotted towhee?
The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, then named rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.
From the Wikipedia article “Spotted towhee” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_towhee&oldid=1378901197), 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 spotted towhee sound like?
Is the spotted towhee endangered?
The spotted 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 spotted towhee classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPasserellidae
- genusPipilo
- SpeciesPipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827
Other names and names in other languages (45)
- Spotted rufous-sided towheeEnglish
- Western rufous-sided towheeEnglish
- طوهي مرقطArabic
- الطُّوهي المُرَقَّطArabic
- toquí maculatCatalan
- pipilo skvrnitýCzech
- Plettet BuskspurvDanish
- FleckengrundammerGerman
- MakulpipiloEsperanto
- makula pasereloEsperanto
- Toquí moteadoSpanish
- Rascador maculosoSpanish
- Rascador MoteadoSpanish
- Toquí maculadoSpanish
- täpik-maasidrikEstonian
- آدمگریز خالدارPersian
- lännenloistopipiloFinnish
- Tohi tachetéFrench
- Gealóg bhallachIrish
- riđoboki strnadarCroatian
- Tarka avarsármányHungarian
- Touì macchiatoItalian
- ワキアカトウヒチョウJapanese
- ホシワキアカトウヒチョウJapanese
- dėmėtasis pipilasLithuanian
- punktainā stērsteLatvian
- Dilchʼóshiishzhiin łikizhígííNavajo
- Gevlekte TowieDutch
- flekktoviNorwegian
- pipil czarnogrzbietyPolish
- toqui-malhadoPortuguese
- pipilo-manchadoPortuguese
- Pipilo-pintadoPortuguese
- Пятнистый тауиRussian
- Пятнистый тоухиRussian
- Пятнистый тохиRussian
- strnádlik škvrnitýSlovak
- Pegavi pipiloSerbian
- Fläckig busksparvSwedish
- fläckig snårsparvSwedish
- Benekli ToviTurkish
- тауї плямистийUkrainian
- 斑唧鵐Chinese
- 斑唧鹀Chinese
- 斑點鵖鵐Chinese
Relatives of the spotted towhee
Other species in the same genus Pipilo.

Eastern towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Green-tailed towhee
Pipilo chlorurus
Collared towhee
Pipilo ocai
Bermuda towhee
Pipilo naufragus
CompareSpotted towhee vs Eastern towheeSpotted towhee vs Green-tailed towheeSpotted towhee vs Collared towheeSpotted towhee vs Bermuda towhee
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the spotted towhee?
An adult spotted towhee weighs 38.8 g – 40.9 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the spotted towhee endangered?
The spotted towhee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the spotted towhee live?
The spotted towhee has a recorded lifespan of 11 years.
What kind of animal is the spotted towhee?
The spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-towhee
“Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-towhee.
@misc{spotted_towhee_2026,
title = {Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-towhee},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}