Pipilo maculatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus).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.
The spotted towhee is a large New World sparrow, roughly the same size as a gray catbird. It has a long, dark, fan-shaped tail with white corners on the end. It has a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between 17 cm (6.7 in) and 21 cm (8.3 in) long, and weighs in at between 33 g (1.2 oz) and 49 g (1.7 oz). It has a wingspan of 28 cm (11 in).
Adult males have a generally darker head, upper body and tail with a white belly, rufous sides, white spots on their back and white wing bars. Females look similar but are dark brown and grey instead of black. The spotted towhee has white spots on its primary and secondary feathers; the eastern towhee is the same in terms of... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 12 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Towhee sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 336 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Towhee in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Towhee sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Spotted Towhee sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 12th at about 10%. The best odds are in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (United States, about 70%), Zion National Park (United States, about 60%) and Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Towhee is recorded against all the birds logged in Joshua Tree National Park (336 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
