Check out the Rufous-Sided Towhee, their wings are black/white but the sides of their chests are rusty colored. Only thing that comes to mind with your description.

Donna

Hi Rebecca,
I was thinking I'm not too far from you (SE TN near Georgia border) and I've got Eastern Towhees. Couldn't find a pic of Rufous-sided in my Stokes guide, but I'm assuming what you've got is the same kind of Towhee as mine. Maybe the reason you've not seen the mate is because the mate looks little like the male you described. She is more of a plainer brown. My Towhees are always using their beaks to dig around under bushes and their call is a more like a whistle.

My Peterson Guide to Eastern birds call them Rufous-Sided Towhees but Eastern Towhee is the same thing. Check out the link below for a pic of one. Is this your bird?

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Towhee

they used to lump the eastern and western towhees together
and called them rufus towhee because of the redish brown side sides. but now it's divided into eastern and spotted towhee.
the eastern in the eastern half of US and the spotted in the waestern half. the main difference is the western towhee has white spots on back and wings and the eastern has some stripes or bars of white. they are both mostly ground feeders and hop and scrath under bushes and shrubs ect. but i do see an ocasional one perching on a feeder eating seed.

Yup! It is difinately a towhee. Maybe spotted? Very pretty! Thanks for your help! Should I feed it something?
Are they a "welcome" bird? I just love the colors!
Thanks!

I do welcome my towhees because they are so pretty and I like their call. I don't think you have to feed it anything. They like rotted stuff under shrubs, hedges, border trees, and under pine bark.

They will find their own but they will come to a feeder. This one was picking the sunflower kernels out of the mixture I had on the deck.

{{!gwi}}

the ones here are often eating with the juncos. i love to watch them scratch and looks like a biker kick starting his bike. they help clean up the seeds on the ground that falls from the feeders.

I love the way they scratch also. I call it the Towhee shuffle. They do it different from any other kind of bird.

Hi Rebecca. I am in NW GA, and I do have a pair of Eastern Towhees in the yard each summer. I adore them. You seldom ever see the pair together. Like deanie said, the female is a chocolate brown color where the male is black. I love to hear them in my yard calling "Tow-hee, Tow-hee." You can click on this link, and hear it. Listen underneath the word "call."~`Angie

Here is a link that might be useful: Eastern Towhee calls/song

Donna, I'm in the Atlanta area and have lots of Eastern Towhee's, male and female. I've had babies galore over the years, too. I think they are stunning, both male and female. First time I saw a male (I was new to bird watching) I thought, WOW, that's the most beautiful Robin I've ever seen! :D

Enjoy yours!

Rebecca, sorry, don't know why I called you Donna.....Probably cause I read Donna's ("dzyg") above.

Thanks, everyone!

I live in SE Tennessee, Bradley County, We have had a lot of Towhees in and around the yard over the years but havent seen any lately. I attribute it to the last wooded lots around here being bulldozed for houses.
Back in 1990 I saw my only Western Towhee in a Holly tree in my parent's front yard. Spots were very distinct and I was able to approach within about 8 feet.

A couple of weeks Ago I was at my Dentist's office getting a cleaning when I saw one land on the wall of the enclosed garden just outside the window. This is about 150 feet from an area of about 6 or seven acres that is heavily wooded and right in the middle of a very settled area including a hospital and large medical building.
The owner of this area is my daughter's Great Grandmother-in-law. She is in her late 80s and says she is saving the land as an investment for her old age.