Catbird
Song Sparrow
Eastern
Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Robin
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
House Finch |
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Toxostoma
Species: rufumLa. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. mimus mimic, actor
La. dumetum a thicket
Gr. toxon a bow (for arrows)
Gr. stoma the mouth (for the
Thrasher's
curved bill)
La. rufus red, ruddy |
|
Brown Thrashers are
eleven to twelve inches long. Orange brown upperparts, darker wings with
two short white bands. White underside with tiny black arrowhead spots
in rows stretching front to back. Long downward curved bill. Long
twitching tail. Yellow eyes.
Inhabits eastern North America, west to the base of the Rocky
Mountains, throughout the Great Plains, north into Canada from Alberta to New Brunswick
and south to the Gulf States.. |
The Brown Thrasher builds bulky nests of loosely assembled twigs, bark
strips, leaves and roots lined with hair and feathers in low trees, bushes, vines, stumps,
brush heaps and on the ground.
Lays three to six, usually four or five white eggs, sometimes with a blue green tint.
Chases cats and dogs in the vicinity of their nests |
|
| Runs and hops along the ground. Forages
for grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, beetles, ants and other insects on the ground. Also eats a
variety of fruit. Sings a flowing warbling song the upper most conspicuous tree branches |
| A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department
of Wildlife Conservation brochure included Catbirds and Thrashers as users of platforms. It said: "These
birds will use the nesting platform when natural nesting sites are unavailable. The
platforms should be placed in partial shade along main branches of trees or under the
eaves of a shed or porch roof."
In
1993, Catbirds and Thrashers were deleted from the brochure because of a lack of
documentation. |
Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard, 1913 |
| However, Gilbert H. Trafton, the
author of "Bird Friends", 1916, recommended platforms open on all four
sides for Thrashers, Catbirds and Song Birds. See Platform
Discussion
You may be more likely to attract a Robin, Dove or Phoebe. Resources |
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