Rufous-sided Towhee

Status Uncommon vagrant, rare in winter. Although Haliburton (1825) included "Towhee Bird, Pewee or Chewink" in his list of Nova Scotia birds, there seems to be no other more explicit nineteenth-century reference. Piers' well-kept notes, covering many years up to the time of his death in 1940, do not mention it. It was first reported by John Piggot, who saw two at Smiths Cove, Digby County, on 27 September 1936. Up to 1960, another dozen reports were received, eight for October, two for May and one each for September and January. Since then it has become one of our most frequent vagrants, behaving more like a regular transient.

Three birds reported for March had probably wintered locally. Otherwise, about 80 of our 100-odd spring birds have appeared in May (average of first sightings 4 May, earliest 7 April). Birds on Sable Island on 11 June 1967 and 15 June 1971 were clearly still on the move, but individuals on the mainland during June, some in song, suggest that a few may try to nest here. One such bird stayed in Dartmouth until 15 July 1957 and another was seen at Sable River, Shelburne County, on 4 July 1967. They are more common as fall migrants: some 230 individuals, sometimes in small groups, have been seen since 1960. Although they have occasionally first appeared in August and September (average 6 October, earliest 21 August) about three-quarters of the birds have occurred in October. They have been equally common as stragglers in November and December, by which time they are generally around birdfeeders. Such individuals have been sustained in small numbers in all parts of the province through the winter cold.

Remarks This large and hardy member of the sparrow family is a fairly common summer resident in New England; it is therefore not surprising that it has found its way to Nova Scotia. In fact, it is rather more surprising that it was so long in doing so. It is a ground feeder and its favourite haunt is a thicket along the open countryside—the type of habitat in which one might expect to find a Gray Catbird.

Its colour pattern is striking. Its upperparts, including head, back and breast, are black; the sides of the white underparts are boldly marked with bright rufous; and the long tail, which it seems to display proudly, is black with white trimmings near the end and very conspicuous in flight.

The bird is called a "towhee" because that is what it seems to say when it gives its common call.