The California Towhee

The California Towhee family has been hanging out in our backyard for months and months, but I’ve been struggling to capture a photograph of the little guys. They like to hop around on the ground, eating the seeds the other birds have knocked out of the feeder. This is also the bird who ate all the flowers off of our rosemary bush (which is why the hummingbirds no longer visit..). But they fly away the second I even begin to open the backdoor, and they won’t come into the backyard when I’m sitting out there. They’re shy little birds.

A few days ago, I finally caught a photo of one of the towhee by looking over our back fence, with camera in hand, to find out what was rustling in the leaves under the oak tree. Success!

And now, my son has a new bird love. Yesterday, the towhee visited our backyard with their baby. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of that, but it was so cute! The mom (or dad) picked up the seeds off the ground and immediately transmitted the seeds to the baby’s mouth. The baby is all puffed up, just like our baby jay. Cute!!