Bird
Eastern Towhee
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Lives in West Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 55 counties, across 13 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 13

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 13
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 13
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Shady, evergreen forests of eastern or Carolina hemlock, often along rocky mountain streams and in gorges.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Sheltered, moist mountain hollows and lower slopes with deep, fertile soil.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Cool, evergreen forests of red spruce and Fraser fir on the highest mountains.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (116)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer and winter.
- Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Summer and winter.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- For forest classes treated as secondary habitat, the model selects edges; primary forest classes can include interiors.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in 21 of 55 counties.
- Summer: nests here, in 42 of 55 counties.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 749
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Mountain LaurelKalmia latifolia
- Northern Red OakQuercus rubra
- Eastern HemlockTsuga canadensis
- Sweet BirchBetula lenta
- White OakQuercus alba
- Rosebay RhododendronRhododendron maximum
- White AshFraxinus americana
- Box HuckleberryGaylussacia brachycera
- TuliptreeLiriodendron tulipifera
- SourwoodOxydendrum arboreum
- Eastern White PinePinus strobus
- Christmas FernPolystichum acrostichoides
- Scarlet OakQuercus coccinea
- Chestnut OakQuercus prinus
- Sugar MapleAcer saccharum
- Common Jack-in-the-pulpitArisaema triphyllum
- Pignut HickoryCarya glabra
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Mockernut HickoryCarya tomentosa
- Flowering DogwoodCornus florida
- Round Leaf DogwoodCornus rugosa
- American BeechFagus grandifolia
- GalaxGalax urceolata
Wildlife 212
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in West Virginia. Not sighting records.
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common RavenCorvus corax
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Eastern Towhee
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)

















































