The subspecies of Spotted Towhees have various amounts of spotting.

Hal Michael
Science Outreach Director, Sustainable Fisheries Foundation
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net

----- Original Message -----

I've been enjoying the arrival of migrants in my yard this morning. Among the Townsend's and orange-crowned warblers, golden-crowned and fox sparrows, there were three towhees that popped up onto the telephone wires from the forsythia. Two clearly displayed their spots but one did not.

Question, can spotted towhees hide their spots?

This 'spotless' towhee was an adult male with no sign of white spots or any white otherwise on the wings. It was quite dark on the body but for the usual coloration (rufous sides, white belly). I did view them from my porch with binoculars and examined the sides/wings in detail. By the time I got my camera, they flew off across the street (Francis Ave between N 64th and N 65th).

Cheers,
AKopitov
Seattle, WA
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