Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Rufous-Sided Towhee

The rufous-sided towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) is a songbird which is an integral part of the Eastern North American ecosystem. It is aesthetically pleasing. It generally prefers forest edges, riparian thickets, and the dense, bushy vegetation offered by early and middle stages of plant change following major land disturbances. The dense vegetation that makes up these habitats provides extensive cover and nest sites as well as plenty of food and nesting materials. Towhees nest directly on the ground, making the nest extremely vulnerable to predators. The nests, however, are often hidden beneath brambles and brushy materials to provide the needed protection. Managing the land to increase the brushy vegetation will thus aid in increasing the towhee population.

Towhees must be protected from fires, grazing, trampling, and predation. Fire prevention is common. Cattle should be excluded from towhee management areas by fencing. Trampling of ground nests by livestock and deer can a problem. Fencing around individual nests is feasible, although this can be timely and costly. Recommended fencing around ground nests should be 2 feet high, open-aired structure made of chicken wire, encircling a nest. Reducing deer is possible through a hunting season but the season may increase tramplings from animals or the hunters. Towhees are preyed upon by Cooper's hawks, ground and gray squirrels, cowbirds, skunks, and king snakes. Fencing nests can reduce some predation. Removing snags in the area will reduce habitat for cavity nesters while also limiting good perching sites for hawks. Squirrel hunting is a fine way to reduce predation on towhees. Do not attempt to kill Cooper's hawks because they are a threatened species.

Rufous-sided towhees feed on a variety of insects, grass and forb seeds, acorns (especially in winter), and berries. Due to the nature of these food items, it may be necessary to thin or even clear-cut an already-existing forest to influence these early successional sources of food that rely on a very open canopy for full sunlight. It is important, though, to manage the edges of forests because many briars and larger tree species (such as oaks--for acorn production) occupy this area and produce large quantities of food. If a field already exists, it may be necessary to plant such species as ragweed, foxtail, grasses, smartweed, huckleberry, blueberry, bayberry, blackberry, ryegrass, oats, dragon sagewort, elderberry, and coffeeberry to supplement what is already there and to provide more food and cover for the towhees. In a cleared area near a forest, many insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, weevils, spiders, snails, worms, ants, and junebugs may be abundant and will benefit the towhee.

Once forest thinning is completed, slash and leaf litter should be left for birds to construct nests. These areas are also great insect habitat. Towhees rely on grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, ants, millipedes, sowbugs, worms, snails, insect larvae, as well as seeds for the majority of their food supply. These guidelines will supply food needed. Food is usually readily available and abundant during summer months when it is most needed; during the breeding season. Towhees do remain year-round in most of Virginia and poor seed crop years may cause problems for winter residents. Supplemental feeding may be required.

Another way to improve a cleared area for increasing the rufous-sided towhee population would be to construct brush piles from branches and fallen logs. This will make available even more cover and nesting areas for the birds. Foraging would also be enhanced because insects would flourish in the rotting wood. Thick grasses, bramble thickets, and small eastern red cedar trees could grow up around the structure also. Many of the plants in these vegetative patches will also provide nesting materials for the towhees. Such things as leaves, grass, bark, twigs, and rootlets can be used in the structure of the nest. The nests are often lined with fine grasses and animal hair as well.

Riparian habitats are also beneficial. Fields and edges near flood plains of streams are especially good habitats for concentrating activities for increasing rufous-sided towhee populations. In these habitats, willows and sycamores will enhance cover for the birds, possible preventing attacks from low-flying predators above. Other predators such as cowbirds, scrub jays, king snakes, squirrels, skunks, rats, and Cooper's hawks may also have to be limited by hunting or trapping.

Primary processes for increasing rufous-sided towhees include: clearing areas to influence early-succession vegetative growth, maintaining vegetation on edges of the clearings, providing brush piles or similar structures to provide more cover, food, and nesting sites, and controlling predators. It is a good idea to monitor how the towhee population is doing by observing them in the field or listening for their familiar call ("drink-your-tea-e-e-e-e"). If through monitoring, the desired quantities of towhees are unsatisfactory, continue to manipulate the land by adding brushy vegetation to enhance the food and cover and continue to monitor the population. Towhee's prefer an open wooded habitat with brushy shrubs and abundant edge. Such areas are ideal for nesting sites which are located on the ground or low in bushes. Height of vegetation is best when at least 4 feet from the ground for optimal foraging and nesting sites. Shrubs provide a secondary option for nesting if the pressure from ground nest predators becomes to high. Shrubs also serve as a supplemental food source. Fertilizer can be use to ensure growth of these shrubs. In addition, managing for towhee habitat should include tree thinning. This will allow for increases in grass cover while providing exposure to sunlight for increased shrub production and growth.

A contribution by Jennifer Ehrenberger (1996), Carrie Stengel, and Hopper Thomas Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0321

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.