Brown Thrasher
Toxostoma rufum
DescriptionCommonly found in the eastern section of the United States, the Brown Thrasher is the Georgia state bird. The Brown Thrasher often feeds on the ground, scratching at the leaf litter with their bills and feet, in search of insects, invertebrates, small vertebrates, berries, fruit, and nuts. This thrasher is said to have the largest repertoire of songs of all North American birds.
Rufous crown, nape, tail, and upperparts. Gray face. Yellow eye. Medium length bill, decurved toward the tip, and with yellowish base on lower mandible. Buffy-white underparts with heavy black streaking. Long tail. Weak white wing bars. Sexes similar. 11.5 inches in length.
Brushy edges of woodlands, dry thickets, overgrown fields, shrubby undergrowth in open woods, and residential shrubs and hedges.
Nesting4-5 pale blue and white eggs with brown spots. The eggs have an 11-14 day incubation period. Fledging occurs in 9-13 days. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the young. The nest is cup shaped and made from twigs, leaves, roots, and lined with grass and is typically built near the ground in a dense, often thorny, bush.
View Gallery