Individuals in the Socorro Island population are much smaller than other spotted towhees, and show distinctive gray upper-parts.

It has a round body (similar to New World sparrows) with bright red eyes and dull pink legs.

It breeds across north-western North America and is present year-round in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and southern British Columbia.

[5] Because the spotted towhee's habitat overlaps with areas of the United States that experience regular forest fires (Arizona, New Mexico, California), it tends to be found in unburned chaparral and avoids chaparral and forests which have been burned[7][8] due to lack of ground cover and minimal foraging ability.

[11] It migrates to northern and northwestern United States and southwestern Canada to breed in scrubland, parks and suburban gardens.

The egg shells are grayish or creamy-white, sometimes with a tinge of green, with reddish brown spots that can form a wreath or cap.

These birds forage on the ground or in low vegetation,[2][14] with a habit of noisily rummaging through dry leaves searching for food.

During the breeding season (spring and summer) they mainly eat insects, ground dwelling beetles, spiders and other arthropods that reside in the leaf litter that is foraged by the spotted towhee.

They only eat protein rich food in the breeding season, and in the fall and winter they focus on foraging for acorns, seeds, oats, and berries.