Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thrashing About.

I apologize for the poor quality of these photos, but they were they best that I could capture in such a short time and I have not posted about this bird.

This brown thrasher, sometimes incorrectly called the brown thrush, is fairly common throughout the eastern part of the U.S. and is the state bird of Georgia and the official name of Atlanta’s former National Hockey League team, the Atlanta Thrashers.   I sometimes confuse him with the wood thrush as they are similar in behavior, size and color.  But my brown thrasher has yellow eyes which is the primary clue.  My thrasher's bill is larger and curved.  He is sometimes referred to as the mockingbird of the south and they do belong to the mockingbird family.  They usually build their nests high in evergreen trees but also nest in hedgerows when available.  






He thrashes about in the woods and sounds like a squirrel tossing leaves. These birds are usually seen in the woods throwing up leaves and detritus in search of insects and berries...not usually seen on feeders as mine is in the photo above!  I must say that I have not heard him sing or perhaps recognized his song in my woods, but poems have been written about his many songs.  According to Wikipedia "The male Brown Thrasher has the largest song repertoire of any North American bird, which has been documented at least over 1,100."

These photos are rare as I see him only once or twice a year.

14 comments:

  1. huh pretty cool on him thrashing about like a squirrel...his yellow eyes really jump out...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing songster. Nice photos -- I might be calling my brown thrush by the wrong name? Thanks for pointing our the differences. -- barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. He's beautiful. I've only seen one once and that was in my backyard. I love the dramatic streaks on the chest and yellow eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the info and pictures of the thrasher. we are on the edge of the thrashers territory here. WW will see them but not very often.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We don't have those here. At least I don't think so. I love mockingbirds though and we do have them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gorgeous bird and well captured!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not a British bird; so it's interesting to see it. Our Blackbird tosses leaves around noisily.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful - have never seen one by my woods - but so much I miss.
    Wish I had installed larger windows in this small home.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely to learn of the Thrasher's thrashing about. Great photos of all.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It does look like the English thrush Tabor. Here the thrush is such a friendly bird I am amazed that they don't get caught by cats. They will often just sit on the lawn or garden and watch you go by with no fear at all. Lovely birds, as your Thrasher seems to be also - Dave

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fabulous! What a lovely bird! My oldest was pretty obsessed with birds for a while and he was walking by as I was looking at this picture. He said, "That's a brown thrasher!" Smart little turkey. We spent the last few minutes revisiting your older posts and beautiful bird pictures.
    What a catch! Thank you for sharing the photos with us! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous12:24 PM

    What an unusual photo - a brown thrasher on a feeder. Thanks!
    Cop Car

    ReplyDelete
  13. I saw one here in the County for the first time this past summer. It was a treat and I can appreciate your sentiments.

    Nice photo!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a handsome bird. I love the name and the description. Thrashing about....I guess we all have a purpose, don't we?

    ReplyDelete

Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.