Oof

presenting the spotted towhee of western North America! its native range spans from southwestern Canada to western Guatemala, and the variation within this range has left ornithologists in some degree of confusion. it hybridizes regularly with more localized relatives, primarily the collared and eastern towhees, and was formerly separated into several different species before several intense studies of their physical variation. they live in dense, low vegetation, such as that of grasslands and scrub, as well as in the edges of forests. those from the continental interior tend more migratory than those from coasts and islands.

their foraging style involves using their feet to stir up grounded debris, such as leaf litter, in search of seeds and insects; however, instead of using one foot at a time, as chickens and similar birds do, it performs a maneuver where it hops forward and back, using both its feet to scratch. i assume this is either to compensate for its small feet, as using both at once gives it more surface coverage; or, possibly, because only a single one of its perching-adapted legs is unable to hold its weight, and standing on one foot would simply cause it to fall over. monogamous and ground-nesting, building small cups of grass and herbs under shrubs and thickets. young birds lack their parents' brillant rust-orange sides and red eyes. towhee nests are rather frequent targets of ground snakes, and the relative population sizes of snakes and towhees in an area directly affect each other.

5 July 2026

and the post begins

because otherwise it gets kind of visually confusing to parse, which is annoying to some folks, including me

GRANTED not everybody uses the same theme or even the same update. you might have noticed my version of tumblr is earlier than yours (I don't like the new button setup)

but still, it's just about being polite