{"id":73714,"date":"2020-09-14T06:02:10","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T12:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73714"},"modified":"2024-04-05T03:45:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T09:45:44","slug":"male-spotted-towhees-one-immature-and-one-adult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/14\/male-spotted-towhees-one-immature-and-one-adult\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Spotted Towhees – One Immature And One Adult"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotted Towhees<\/h2>\n

\"ImmatureImmature male Spotted Towhee molting – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It was smoky again in far northern Utah yesterday morning but that didn’t stop me from photographing the birds I found.<\/p>\n

One of the birds that popped into my view was an immature male Spotted Towhee who was undergoing a molt. The young towhee looked pretty raggedy because of the molting process but I adore these large sparrows and I know exactly what he will look like when he is finished swapping out his feathers.<\/p>\n

\"MoltingMolting immature male Spotted Towhee on a smoky September morning – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The immature male Spotted Towhee perched on a Fragrant Sumac long enough that I was able to take a long series of images of him as he looked around the area. There are plenty of shrubs in this location with a freshwater seep down below them.<\/p>\n

I see Spotted Towhees in this spot quite often but they rarely come out into the open like this hatch year male did.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Spotted Towhee perched on sumac – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Six minutes later an adult male Spotted Towhee flew in and landed on the sumac just a few feet from where the immature male had been and I was thrilled to take photos of him.<\/p>\n

This is what the immature male will look like when he has completed molting into his adult plumage.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Spotted Towhee male on a smoky September morning – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The adult towhee didn’t stay long. After taking a short series of images he lifted his wings, flew off and disappeared.<\/p>\n

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. Even when the air is filled with smoke.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to view more of my Spotted Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127172,"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":[27,1148,3542,26],"tags":[4004,4137,6303,4098,6767,5381,4067,4062,2312,2313,3546,10298,11852,6768,7474,5376,10404,855,4195,3545,7630,2315,5908,4854,4193],"class_list":["post-73714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-spotted-towhees","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-adult-plumage","tag-colorful","tag-desert","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-hatch-year","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-pipilo-maculatus","tag-raggedy","tag-ranchlands","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-seep","tag-smoke","tag-smoky","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spotted-towhee","tag-sumac","tag-summer-3","tag-towhee","tag-towhees","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/spotted-towhee-adult-male-sumac-mia-mcpherson-8375.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jaW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54114,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/14\/molting-juvenile-spotted-towhee\/","url_meta":{"origin":73714,"position":0},"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 "Birds"","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, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/spotted-towhee-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/spotted-towhee-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3988.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/spotted-towhee-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3988.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/spotted-towhee-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-3988.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104011,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/10\/juvenile-green-tailed-and-spotted-towhee-side-by-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":73714,"position":2},"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 "Bird ID"","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, 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Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-8122.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-towhee-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-8122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-8122.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-8122.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":73714,"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 "Birds"","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":61247,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/06\/autumn-male-spotted-towhee\/","url_meta":{"origin":73714,"position":5},"title":"Autumn Male Spotted Towhee","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed some sparrows, goldfinches, juncos, and this lovely male Spotted Towhee that was eating the fruit of a Fragrant Sumac tree.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Spotted Towhee peeking out of a Fragrant Sumac, Box Elder County, 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