Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)

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Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)

Photo credit: ©Tim Avery

Length: 11.5 in.
Habitat: Thickets, fields with scrubs, and woodland borders. Breeds in areas of dense low growth, especially thickets around edges of deciduous or mixed woods, shrubby edges of swamps or undergrowth in open pine woods; also in suburban neighborhoods with many shrubs and hedges. Winters in similar areas or in any habitat with dense brush.
Range: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and northern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Winters in the southern part of the breeding range.

The big, foxy red brown Thrasher is a familiar bird over much of the east. Sometimes it forages boldly on open lawns; more often it scoots into desnce cover at any disturbance. Brown Thrashers may be confused with thrushes but are larger, have longer tails, and are streaked, rather than spotted below. They often feed on the ground, scattering dead leaves with their beaks as they search for insects. It also perches in trees and shrubs to eat berries. It will also crack open acorns by pounding them with its bill.

Both parents feed nestlings, with two broods per year, sometimes three. The nest, built by both male and female, is a bulky structure with foundation of sticks supporting a loose cup of twigs, leaves, weeds, grass, bark fibers, lined with finer materials.

Conservation Status The Brown Thrasher seems widespread and common in many areas.