1st Sunday Devotional – The Towhee

“All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.”
(from a hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful” written by Cecil Frances Alexander, published in 1848)

Today when I went out looking for the bird nest that my dog Frankie found a few days ago and that I dragged him away from before he had a chance to do the bird or nest any harm, I thought of that line “all creatures great and small.” You may know the above lines as the titles for the books by James Herriot. Those are fun books to read about a veterinarian who treated many of those great and small creatures, but I thought about it in how the Lord created so many different kinds of birds.

Anyway, the nest was on the ground and when Frankie rudely pushed his nose too close to it, the mama bird rushed off the nest but didn’t fly as I thought she would. Instead she spread her wings and acted like she might not be able to fly. She did disappear into a bush. Frankie was on leash and I wasn’t going to let him attack the bird. I pulled him away and went on with our walk. I kept thinking I’d look up what kind of bird it was. I saw the brown-speckled eggs in a little nest right on the ground among some weeds.

But when I looked up brown-speckled eggs on the ground, killdeer popped up. I knew that wasn’t right. I see killdeer all the time out in the field when I’m walking. Today I decided to go back to see if I could find the nest again – without the dogs along. I didn’t find the nest, but I did see the mama bird do the same thing she’d done when Frankie was too close. She scooted away across the ground with her wings and tail spread. Or it might have been the papa bird. Both were there.

Both were soon up in the tree over their nesting place, fussing and worrying, flying to first one branch and then another. I gave up on finding the nest and took pictures of the birds instead. The one I managed to capture was of the female bird. The male has black head and wings where the female is brown.

I have seen eastern towhees before. They are usually on the ground close to some bushes, but I thought they were bigger than this little bird looked to me when it was scooting away. But my bird book and the internet let me know for sure that my two birds were eastern towhees.

They build nests on the ground nearly all the time. The mama bird does all the next building but both parents help feed the baby birds once they hatch. Online, it said that brown-headed cowbirds take advantage of the towhees by pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying their eggs in the nest instead. Some birds recognize the imposter eggs, but not the poor towhee. I’m glad to report that the eggs I spotted in the nest were all towhee eggs. And the parent birds were very determined to save their babies.

I knew killdeer would pretend to have a broken wing to entice a predator away from their eggs or baby birds, but it seems the eastern towhee does the same. That is what the bird was doing when it scooted somewhat awkwardly away from its nest.

Another neat fact about the towhee is that they primarily eat on the ground, scratching in the weeds and bushes by kicking back both feet at the same time. This makes such a rustling racket that you might think a bigger bird or animal is under the bush if you were to hear it.

Towhees get their name from the most common call of eastern towhees, a short two-part call rising in pitch. It’s sometimes also called a “chewink” call. Their song is also described as a short ”drink your teeeeea” lasting around one second, starting with a sharp call (“drink!”) and ending with a short trill “teeeeea.”

For sure they were chewinking or telling me to go away and drink my tea earlier today when I was way closer to their nest than they wanted me to be.

According to what I found online, in Native American culture, towhees symbolize adaptability and resilience. Their presence can signify a need for balance and harmony in one’s life. The bird is also seen as a reminder to stay true to oneself and embrace change with grace and strength.

Quite a witness for such a sweet little bird.

Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being. … Praise the Lord from the earth … wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord. for his name is very great. (Psalm 148: 5, 7, 10, 13 NLT)

Have you ever seen a bird do the broken wing trick to protect their eggs or baby birds?