Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World Catbirds and Mockingbirds. The dispersal of the Brown Thrasher is abundant throughout the eastern and central United States, southern and central Canada, and is the only thrasher to live primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia.

The Brown Thrasher is bright reddish-brown above with thin, dark streaks on its buffy underparts. It has a whitish-colored chest with distinguished teardrop-shaped markings on its chest. Its long, rufous tail is rounded with paler corners, and eyes are a brilliant yellow. Its bill is brownish, long, and curves downward. Both male and females are similar in appearance. [Wikipedia]

Brown Thrasher

It can be tricky to glimpse a Brown Thrasher in a tangled mass of shrubbery, and once you do you may wonder how such a boldly patterned, gangly bird could stay so hidden. Brown Thrashers wear a somewhat stern expression thanks to their heavy, slightly down-curved bill and staring yellow eyes, and they are the only thrasher species east of Texas. Brown Thrashers are exuberant singers, with one of the largest repertoires of any North American songbird. [All About Birds]

Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher Facts [All About Birds]

• The Brown Thrasher is considered a short-distance migrant, but two 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 are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.
• The oldest Brown Thrasher on record was at least 12 years, 10 months old, and was found in North Carolina.