TOWHEES, TOWHEES, EVERYWHERE

I meant to write this the other day, but I felt like shit when I got back from my walk, so it never got written until today.

As spring gradually creeps forward we're seeing more neo-tropical migrants starting to arrive to join the brave birds that spend the entire year here. Lots more songs to hear and colors to see.

Eastern Towhees are pretty, gregarious birds that are often heard before they're seen. I saw one the other day that I didn't recognize at first because of the way the light was hitting it and also because I wasn't thinking Towhee. They're usually around in the summer and I've never seen them this early.

At any rate, I saw this bird that looked familiar but out of place, then I heard it sing and I knew immediately what it was. I don't claim to know too many bird songs, but once you've heard a Towhee, you'll never forget that lilting drink-your-tea. Once when I lived in Toledo I was walking in one of their Metroparks when I heard a Towhee very close by. He was in a tree, but not terribly high up and he was singing to beat the band. I decided to try to whistle his song back to him, and we had at least a ten minute conversation before one of us--can't remember which--got bored and moved on.

So once I heard drink-your-tea I pulled out my iPhone and fired up birdJam and began talking back to him. As I walked along, he followed, flitting from one side of the trail to the other. At first I thought there was but one bird, but then I saw three within about 40 feet and heard others a bit farther away. I'm guessing there were at least five Towhees in about a 100 yard patch.

Some birds respond to canned calls, while others don't seem to like them. Cardinals seem to be in the latter category. I've called male Cardinals any number of times and they always seem to fly away rather quickly. Chickadees, on the other hand, will almost always respond. They're curious little birds and have little fear of people and many of us have had them eat out of our hands. I'm convinced if I held my iPhone out flat and stayed perfectly still a Chickadee would eventually land on it to see where that singing was coming from.