any of various North American brownish-coloured sparrows of the genera Pipilo and Chlorura
Word origin
C18: imitative of its note
towhee in American English
(ˈtoʊhi; ˈtoʊi)
US
noun
any of several large, ground-feeding, North American sparrows (family Emberizidae);esp., the rufous-sided towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) with a chestnut patch on each flank and, usually, red irises