California Thrasher

California Thrasher

California Thrasher: Large, slender thrasher with dark brown upperparts and paler gray-brown underparts. Face is finely streaked, eyes are dark, and black bill is very long and down curved. Throat has small buff patch. Tail is long with reddish-brown undertail coverts. Legs and feet are gray-brown.

● Song: "chuck", "chur-erp"

● Foraging & Feeding: California Thrasher: Diet consists of insects, spiders, seeds of berries, hazelnuts, weeds, and small fruits; forages by digging in soil and turning over leaves with its bill.

● Breeding & nesting: California Thrasher: Two to four pale blue eggs with light brown spots, are laid in a bowl-shaped nest made of sticks and roots, lined with finer materials, and built in a shrub. Eggs are incubated for approximately 14 days by both parents.

● Similar species: California Thrasher: Crissal Thrasher is darker behind eye, paler cheeks and more rust-brown on undertail coverts. Le Conte's Thrasher is paler overall and lacks pale area behind eye and dark cheeks.

Flight Pattern