Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 9.1–11.8 in
23–30 cm - Wingspan
- 11.4–12.6 in
29–32 cm - Weight
- 2.2–3.1 oz
61–89 g
Other Names
- Moqueur roux (French)
- Cuitlacoche rojizo (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- Brown Thrasher is considered a short-distance migrant, but two individuals have been recorded in Europe: one in England and another in Germany.
- An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.
- Brown Thrashers leave the nest at only 9 to 13 days old, earlier than either of its smaller relatives, the Northern Mockingbird or Gray Catbird.
Habitat
Scrub
- Breeds in brushy open country, thickets, shelter belts, riparian areas, and suburbs.
- Winters in hedgerows, gardens, thickets, and brushy woodland edges.
Food
Omnivore
Insects (especially beetles), other arthopods, fruits, and nuts.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Egg Description
- Color: Pale blue or white, minutely and heavily speckled with dingy brown markings.
Egg size: 25.4-27.9mm x 19.3-19.8mm.
(1.0-1.1 in x 0.76-0.78 in)
Incubation period: 11-14 days. - Condition at Hatching
- Helpless, with scattered tufts of down.
Chicks fledge in 11-12 days.
Nest Description
A bulky cup made of twigs, lined with leaves, then with an inner lining of rootlets. Nest in dense shrubs,especially with thorns, up to 14 feet above ground (average 2-7 feet). Often placed on ground.
Nest Placement
Shrub
© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Behavior
Ground Forager
Feeds in leaf litter by using bill to sweep litter and soil away. Occasionally pecks and probes in litter.
Conservation
Least Concern
Populations declining slowly throughout range, perhaps because of the maturation of shrublands in the East and the elimination of fencerows and shelter belts in the Great Plains.
Credits
- Cavitt, J. F., and C. A. Haas. 2000. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum). In The Birds of North America, No. 557 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.