{"id":107056,"date":"2022-10-10T04:46:50","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T10:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=107056"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:40:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T22:40:29","slug":"male-spotted-towhee-urban-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/10\/male-spotted-towhee-urban-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Spotted Towhee &#8211; Urban Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-107057\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744.jpg\" alt=\"Male Spotted Towhee in a hawthorn, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/>Male Spotted Towhee in a hawthorn \u2013 Nikon D500, handheld, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Today I&#8217;m sharing a photo of a male Spotted Towhee that I captured yesterday while walking along the Jordan River in Salt Lake County early in the morning. The temp was at 43\u00b0F, the sky was clear, and I was glad that I had pulled on a sweatshirt before I left the house.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to enjoy my walk so I put my trusty, yet old, Nikkor 70-300mm on my Nikon D500 to lighten my load. My Nikkor 500mm is simply too heavy for me to lug around for long.<\/p>\n<p>I hadn&#8217;t walked very far when I noticed several birds in a small thicket of mixed trees and shrubs. At the top of the thicket I spotted this male Spotted Towhee perched on top of a hawthorn. I walked forward slowly to get a clear view of the towhee and took this image. Immediately after I took this photo the towhee launched himself off of the branch and into the thicket below.<\/p>\n<p>Walking the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jordan_River_Parkway\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Jordan River Parkway Trail<\/span><\/a> reminded me that I should pay more attention to it and the urban birds I can find there. I have quick and easy access to the trail, it can be quite birdy plus I can get a few steps in for my health and well being.<\/p>\n<p>I have to say it felt great to be on foot while I wandered along the trail savoring the scenery, the birds, and listening to the sound of the water in the river flowing along.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/spotted-towhee-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Spotted Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today I&#8217;m sharing a photo of a male Spotted Towhee that I captured yesterday while walking along the Jordan River in Salt Lake County early in the morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,758,709,3542,26],"tags":[4004,970,6577,7298,4620,6566,10302,4062,3546,4018,855,4195,3545,5908,4854,4427,8018,6289],"class_list":["post-107056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-jordan-river-trail","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-spotted-towhees","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-branches","tag-crataegus-rivularis","tag-fall","tag-hawthorn","tag-hawthorns","tag-male","tag-pipilo-maculatus","tag-sky","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spotted-towhee","tag-towhee","tag-towhees","tag-tree","tag-urban","tag-urban-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/spotted-towhee-jordan-river-trail-mia-mcpherson-9744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-rQI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104011,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/10\/juvenile-green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-side-by-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Green-tailed and Spotted Towhee Side By Side","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Until two days ago I had never gotten photos of a juvenile Green-tailed and young Spotted Towhee in the same frame so I was thrilled when I saw them fly in.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bird ID&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Green-tailed and Spotted Towhee comparison, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-young-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-young-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-young-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-young-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79770,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/24\/male-spotted-towhee-in-low-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":1},"title":"Male Spotted Towhee In Low Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Ten days ago when I took this male Spotted Towhee image close to home I had tough, low light conditions to photograph him in.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter male Spotted Towhee perched in a tree, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-winter-tree-mia-mcpherson-2771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-winter-tree-mia-mcpherson-2771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-winter-tree-mia-mcpherson-2771.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-winter-tree-mia-mcpherson-2771.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79342,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/15\/snowy-spotted-towhee-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":2},"title":"Snowy Spotted Towhee Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There was about 2 1\/2 inches of white stuff on the ground yesterday morning which allowed me to take this snowy Spotted Towhee portrait close to home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Spotted Towhee portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-portrait-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-portrait-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-portrait-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-portrait-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/14\/male-spotted-towhees-one-immature-and-one-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":3},"title":"Male Spotted Towhees &#8211; One Immature And One Adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Spotted Towhees are among the most colorful members of the sparrow family and I always enjoy photographing them on those occasions when they are out in the open.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Spotted Towhee male on a smoky September morning, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-sumac-mia-mcpherson-8375.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-sumac-mia-mcpherson-8375.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-sumac-mia-mcpherson-8375.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-sumac-mia-mcpherson-8375.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102203,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/07\/male-spotted-towhee-in-morgan-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":4},"title":"Male Spotted Towhee In Morgan County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a few moments to photograph a singing male Spotted Towhee two days ago in Morgan County high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Spotted Towhee in spring, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/spotted-towhee-male-willow-mia-mcpherson-0671.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54114,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/14\/molting-juvenile-spotted-towhee\/","url_meta":{"origin":107056,"position":5},"title":"Molting Juvenile Spotted Towhee","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This time of the year male and female Spotted Towhees have finished raising their broods and their young are learning how to be on their own but they do look a touch ragged as they molt into their adult plumage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Spotted Towhee, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-immature-mia-mcpherson-5472.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-immature-mia-mcpherson-5472.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-immature-mia-mcpherson-5472.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-immature-mia-mcpherson-5472.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}