Thrashers- ORDER: Passeriformes
- FAMILY: Mimidae
Basic Description
The Long-billed Thrasher looks a lot like the Brown Thrasher of the eastern U.S. but lives in the dry, brushy landscapes of southeast Texas and northeastern Mexico. It's a rich brown bird with heavy black streaking on white underparts, a grayish face, and an orange eye. Like other thrashers, it lives in dense brush and spends much of its time scratching or tossing leaves aside to catch insects on the ground. In spring, males sometimes perch in the open and sing a jumbled song with many repeated phrases.
More ID InfoFind This Bird
Although much of its natural habitat has been cleared, Long-billed Thrashers are still fairly common in brushy woodland and dense parts of suburbs and parks. Take a slow stroll around the edges of a southern Texas brushland, especially at a wildlife refuge or state park, listen for the sound of a thrasher rummaging in the leaf litter, and look carefully and patiently low in tangles or on the ground.
Other Names
- Cuitlacoche Piquilargo (Spanish)
- Moqueur à long bec (French)
- Cool Facts
- Although the Long-billed Thrasher has a longer bill than the similar-looking Brown Thrasher, it does not have a particularly long bill for a thrasher. LeConte's, California, and Crissal Thrashers have much longer and more strongly curved bills.
- The Long-billed Thrasher has a long and complicated song like other thrashers and mockingbirds, but it is not known to include mimicry in its repertoire.
- The oldest recorded Long-billed Thrasher was at least 8 years, 8 months old when it was recaptured and re-released during banding operations in Texas.