The Spotted Towhee is one of my favourite backyard
birds. There is always one shuffling about under the lilac
trees. You can find them in the woods too, not just in
gardens, but really, it's like having a loyal puppy
scrabbling about the tulips. They have an entertaining way
of searching for food, which consists of them doing a
little two foot hop shuffle. Hop forward and shuffle back.
It turns up the leaves and undergrowth to expose insects
and so forth. If you watch crows, they tend to use their
bills to flip leaves over or to turn over clods of dirt.
The Spotted Towhee uses both feet instead. They can make a
hell-of-a-noise in the quiet woods as you can imagine a
bear shuffling slowly about but no, it's just the Towhee
with his crazy, red staring eyes.