Curve-billed Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher, adult; Tucson, AZ

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Curve-billed Thrasher, adult; New Mexico

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A common bird of the arid Southwest, the Curve-billed Thrasher occurs in a range of habitats. Perhaps because of its broader tolerances, it is the most widespread of the western thrashers.

Description

• Large, long-tailed songbird.
• Dull grayish brown all over.
• Long, thin, slightly down-curved bill.
• Faint spots on chest and belly.

• Size: 27 cm (11 in)
• Wingspan: 34 cm (13 in)
• Weight: 85 g (3.0 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song is a musical series of unrepeated notes and phrases. Call is a sharp, whistled "whit-weet."

Conservation Status

Relatively common. Loss of habitat to urban development and agriculture may be causing declines in some areas.

Other Names

Moqueur à bec courbe (French)
Cuitlacoche piquicurvo (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Curve-billed Thrasher that lives in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico looks different than the form that lives in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas and central Mexico, and they may be separate species. The Texas and eastern bird has a lighter breast, more contrasting spots, pale wingbars, and white tail corners. The more western form has a grayer breast with less obvious spots, inconspicuous wingbars, and smaller, more grayish tail corners.

Sources used to construct this page:

Tweit, R. C. 1996. Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre). In The Birds of North America, No. 235 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists Union, Washington, D.C.