- Toxostoma rufum
Identification
23.5-30.5 cm (9.25-12 ins)
- Brown or reddish-brown above
- White breast
- Throat streaked with brown
- Two white wing bars
- Long tail
- Relatively large and curved bill
Distribution
Breeds in the United States and Canada (east of the Rocky Mountains).
A partial migrant.
Has once been recorded as a vagrant in the British Isles.
Taxonomy
This is a polytypic species, consisting of two subspecies:
- T. r. rufum:
- South-eastern Canada to Gulf States (mainly east of Rocky Mountains)
- T. r. longicauda:
Habitat
Suburban woodland with decidiuous trees, thickets, brush, garden shrubbery.
Behaviour
A very shy and secretive bird.
Diet
Mainly an omnivorous ground feeder, it turns over leaves looking for seeds, insects, snails and worms, it will also eat berries, nuts and occasionally lizards.
Vocalisation
Call: A sharp lip-smacking type sound.
Song: a double-phrase territorial song, delivered from the top of a tree in the breeding season.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Absolute Astronomy
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Thrasher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Thrasher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
