Backyard & Woodland Songbirds
Brown Thrasher
Toxostoma rufum
A rusty-red songbird that scratches through leaves for insects. It has one of the largest song collections of any North American bird and usually sings each phrase twice.
How to identify it
- Bright rusty-brown upperparts
- White underparts with heavy dark streaks
- Yellow eyes
- Long tail and long, slightly curved bill
- Song of phrases sung in pairs
SizeAbout the size of an American Robin
Song Sparrow6 in
American Robin10 in
Brown Thrasher11 in
American Crow19 in
6 inAverage length, bill to tail
Details
- Size
- 9–12 in long; wingspan 11–12.5 in
- Weight
- 2.1–3.1 oz
- Habitat
- Thickets, hedgerows, woodland edges and brushy yards
- When to see it
- Year-round across the Southeast; summer in the North
- Diet
- Insects, seeds, nuts, berries
Range in the United States
Life history
Food
Sweeps its bill through leaf litter for insects, and eats berries, nuts and seeds.
Nesting
A bulky cup of twigs in a dense shrub or thicket.
- Clutch
- 3–5 eggs
- Incubation
- 11–14 days
- Young
- Fledge at about 9–13 days
- Broods
- 2–3 per year
Behavior
Secretive except when singing from treetops in spring. Defends its nest aggressively.
Conservation
Common but declining in many areas.
Cool facts
- It has one of the largest song collections of any North American bird, over 1,100 song types.
- It's the state bird of Georgia.
- It usually sings each phrase twice, unlike the mockingbird's three or more.
Songs & calls
▶Bird sounds video coming soon
Watch the Brown Thrasher
▶Video coming soon
