Brian Herriott found this female Spotted Towhee at the edge of an urban shopping center parking lot in the middle of Chicago. He found the bird on 15 December 2003. The pictures below were taken on 16 December 2003.
The pictures show the strong white wing bar on the greater wing coverts, another wing bar on the median wing coverts, the white scapular tips, and the lack of a bold white patch at the base of the primaries (though you do see white where the white edges of the primaries come together).
Presumably the dull, grayish brown coloration of the upperparts indicates this is an "Arctic Towhee" Pipilo maculatus arcticus (in the terminology from Rising's The Sparrows of the United States and Canada).
The picture above was taken by Geoff Williamson. The next two photo's are Brian Herriott's.
