Species BirdsBrown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher

Toxostoma rufum

CommonBird
Illustration of Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)

The Brown Thrasher has the largest repertoire of any North American bird, capable of producing over 1,100 distinct song types — each phrase typically sung twice before moving to the next. It is a large, rufous-backed, long-tailed bird with a strongly curved bill used to thrash aside leaf litter. It is the state bird of Georgia.

Habitat
Dense shrubs, forest edges, hedgerows, and thickets
Diet
Insects, earthworms, berries, nuts, and small lizards
How common
Common

Recent Brown Thrasher sightings near you

Live, research-grade observations from iNaturalist. Allow location to center the map on you.

Spot a Brown Thrasher? Identify it instantly.

Point Huck at any plant or animal and get an instant ID, rarity, and field notes — building your personal nature collection as you go.

Get Huck — free

More birds

Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus
American Avocet
American Avocet
Recurvirostra americana
American Bittern
American Bittern
Botaurus lentiginosus
American Black Duck
American Black Duck
Anas rubripes
American Coot
American Coot
Fulica americana
American Crow
American Crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
American Flamingo
American Flamingo
Phoenicopterus ruber
American Golden-Plover
American Golden-Plover
Pluvialis dominica