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, the rufous-sided towhee. Literature before 1995 referred to the spotted towhee as a rufous-sided towhee that resides in the western United States. An archaic name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.
The spotted towhee has a long, dark fan shaped tail with white corners on the end. They have a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs. The spotted towhee is between 6.7 to 8.3 inches long.
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 bird in terms of its size and structure but does not have white spots.
The spotted towhee lives in dry upland forests and breeds across north-western North America. It is present in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia year round.
Its breeding habitat in the southwest is largely dependent on Coastal sage scrub, as it provides cover from predators. They migrate to northern and northwestern United States and southwestern Canada to breed in scrubland, parks and suburban gardens.