Unusual Winter Visitor

[jaycee]

At Our Bird Feeder;
My wife asked if an Oriole would still be around, there this morning at brunch she said there it is again, turns out to be an Rufous Sided Towhee, very colourful pretty bird.
He [male has been back a few times today , and I just watched him for the last 10 to 12 minutes at the feeder.
Cornell University has since 1995 renaimed them Eastern Towhee.

[COLOR=#333333][COLOR=#999999]© PIWO

[COLOR=#333333]A strikingly marked, oversized sparrow of the East, feathered in bold black and warm reddish-browns – if you can get a clear look at it. Eastern Towhees are birds of the undergrowth, where their rummaging makes far more noise than you would expect for their size. Their chewink calls let you know how common they are, but many of your sightings end up mere glimpses through tangles of little stems.

[Rodbender]

usually a few over winter in ontario theres a female here in Ajax

[Sharon]

Isn't that a special bird to get at your feeder. Lucky man.

[duckslayer]

Just noticed this thread, interesting as I had a juv. eastern towhee at the feeders between xmas and New Years. Took a bit too figure it out in the bird book but my book also shows juv' so I was able to pin point what it was. The colouring of the juv had me scratching my head but the conical bill narrowed it down nicely. First time seeing one for me

[Dythbringer]

I am shocked about this news.

I never figured you were a brunch kind of guy.

[jaycee]

I am shocked about this news.

I never figured you were a brunch kind of guy.

In this kind of cold weather, I tend to get up later reason for the "brunch ".
Also this morning while we were having breakfast [got up earlier ] , daughter noticed it first, a female Towhee was here with the male, they both appeared back about an hour later.