NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Spotted Towhee
Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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, then named rufous-sided towhee. Another outdated name for the spotted towhee is the Oregon towhee (particularly for the subspecies Pipilo maculatus oregonus). The call may be harsher and more varied than for the eastern towhee.
Wikipedia contributors, Spotted towhee; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:08:01.816544+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827
- Name authority
- Swainson, 1827
- Common name
- Spotted Towhee
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
- Genus
- Pipilo
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPasserellidae
- genusPipilo Vieillot, 1816
- speciesPipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pipilo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Green-tailed TowheePipilo chlorurus (Audubon, 1839) | PasserellidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Collared TowheePipilo ocai (Lawrence, 1865) | PasserellidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bermuda TowheePipilo naufragus Olson & Wingate, 2012 | PasserellidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758) | PasserellidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554380 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4J6J7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.