Apr 19, 2017
Nearly two years after we first started reporting on the phenomena, Eastern Towhees are still screaming. Multiple hypotheses have been tested and found wanting, though we have yet to disprove the “genetic memories resulting in perpetual recall of the K-T extinction event” model nor the “total awareness of The End Of All Things” which afflicts their distant cousins the Whiskered Auklets. The Academy of Bird Sciences still recommends earplugs and rudimentary-to-basic self-defense gear (up to and including a nailbat and/or saturday night special) when wandering through Towhee territory, but this is primarily to ward off hearing damage and discourage any predators who would take advantage of hampered senses.