High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus, is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been under debate in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the Spotted Towhee were considered a single species, the Rufous-sided Towhee. Adults have rufous sides, a white belly and a long dark tail with white edges. The eyes are red, white for birds in the southeast. Males have a dark head, upper body and tail; these parts are brown in the female. Their breeding habitat is brushy areas across eastern North America. They nest either low in bushes or on the ground under shrubs.