Long-billed Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

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

A resident of dense brushy habitats, the Long-billed Thrasher is found only in southern Texas and eastern Mexico. It closely resembles its rustier relative, the Brown Thrasher, which spends the winter in some of the same areas.

Description

• Large, long-tailed songbird.
• Upperparts grayish brown.
• Underparts white with black streaking.

• Size: 26-29 cm (10-11 in)
• Wingspan: 33 cm (13 in)
• Weight: 68 g (2.4 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song is a long series of rich, warbled, variable phrases. Phrases may be given two to four times. Call note is a mellow, descending "kleak" or rich, whistled "chee-ooep."

Conservation Status

Clearing of brushland for agriculture caused decline of Long-billed Thrashers in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas over the last century. Given no special status.

Other Names

Moqueur à long bec (French)
Cuitlacoche pico largo, Cuitlacoche (Spanish)
Sennetts Thrasher (English)

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. Le Conte's and California thrashers, and even fellow Texan Crissal Thrasher 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.

Sources used to construct this page:

Tweit, R. C. 1997. Long-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma longirostre). In The Birds of North America, No. 317 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.