[4] The eastern towhee was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Fringilla erythrophthalma.

Occurrences from southern Saskatchewan, southwest Ontario and Quebec south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas are noted in a literature review.

[14] Pipilo e. canaster occurs from south-central Louisiana, north to northeastern Louisiana east through Mississippi, extreme southwestern Tennessee, northern Alabama and Georgia, central South Carolina to western North Carolina, and south to northwestern Florida and east along the Gulf Coast.

[17] For example, in Maryland, eastern towhee territories along a power line right-of-way corresponded with shrubby areas containing species such as Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.).

[17] From 1966 to 2015, the eastern towhee experienced a greater than 1.5% annual population decrease throughout the Atlantic seaboard and the northern part of its breeding range.

[19] Further south, on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, migration to high-elevation areas within the Great Smoky Mountains begins as early as March.

[22] According to several literature reviews, eastern towhees may renest after failed nesting attempts and can raise two, and in the south sometimes three, broods per season.

[4] Daily movement of eastern towhees in loblolly (P. taeda) and longleaf pine (P. palustris) forests and clearcuts in South Carolina averaged 325 feet (99 m) per day.

[26] Eastern towhees in 2 pitch pine (P. rigida) barrens sites in New Jersey and New York had a later median egg laying date (mid-June) and significantly (p<0.05) smaller average early nest clutch sizes (NJ=2.67, NY=3.25) than those in an oak-hickory (Carya spp.)

Average eastern towhee nest success across mixed bigtooth (P. grandidentata) and quaking aspen (P. tremuloides) stands of varying ages in Pennsylvania was 48.1%.

This rate was obtained from radio-marked eastern towhees and represented the pooled survival of both sexes and from 2 South Carolina sites, young and mature stands of loblolly and longleaf pine.

[28] Eastern towhees range from near sea level to as high as 6,500 ft (2,000 m) along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina during the summer.

[29][31][32][33] Mean number of breeding eastern towhees (0.70 bird/50-m radius) and nest success rate (58%) were higher in a 15-year-old clearcut in West Virginia, than in other treatments, including a stand of yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), black cherry, red maple, sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and white ash (Fraxinus americana) that was not harvested.

However, in stands compared in 1996, the 95% confidence intervals of eastern towhee relative abundance on the 2 sites had a substantial degree of overlap.

For example, in Pennsylvania there was a significant (p<0.05) difference between eastern towhee densities (number/10 ha) between mature mixed-oak forest and stands that had been clearcut about 5 years previously.

[35] Eastern towhees seem to prefer sites with characteristics generally associated with early successional vegetation, such as low canopy cover and dense understory.

[34] Number of eastern towhees in a western Virginia hardwood forest was also significantly (p<0.05) inversely correlated with total percent canopy cover.

In east-central Florida slash pine (P. elliottii) flatwoods with understories dominated by myrtle oak (Q. myrtifolia) and sand live oak (Q. geminata) and in scrub sites with scattered slash pine and cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), eastern towhee densities were significantly (p=0.01) negatively correlated with mean shrub height.

Eastern towhee density was negatively associated with plants of the moister parts of this study area, such as black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica, p<0.006), red maple (p<0.001), and witch hazel (p<0.03).

The majority of nests observed in South Carolina loblolly and longleaf pine forests and clearcuts were located in grape, tree sparkleberry (V. arboreum), and oak (Quercus spp.).

[23] On an oak-hickory site in West Virginia, 27% of 41 eastern towhee nests were found in grape, 17% in blackberry (Rubus spp.

Nests also occurred in Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), spice bush (Lindera benzoin), and azalea (Rhododendron spp.).

[40] In a power line right-of-way in Pennsylvania, the 6 eastern towhee nests observed occurred in Allegheny blackberry, witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), blueberry (Vaccinium spp.

), white oak (Q. alba), eastern hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula) and sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) combined, and on ground level.

According to literature reviews, eastern towhee nests located on the ground are embedded in litter in dry areas and typically occur at the base of grasses, forbs, low shrubs, or small trees.

[22] In a laboratory study 4 eastern towhees used this method to successfully obtain seed buried almost 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep.

In literature reviews, eastern towhees are reported to eat seeds and fruits, several invertebrates, and occasionally small amphibians, snakes, and lizards.

[46] Insects such as beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), ants, wasps, and bees (Hymenoptera), and moths and caterpillars (Lepidoptera) are common prey items.

Eastern towhees eat other invertebrates such as spiders (Araneae), millipedes (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda), and snails (Gastropoda) to a lesser extent.

Mammals that are likely nest predators include northern raccoons (Procyon lotor), domestic cats (Felis catus), and eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus).