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Sage Thrasher

Oreoscoptes montanusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)

Sage Thrasher Breeding Adult Portrait
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General

Sage Thrasher: Small thrasher with gray upperparts and dark-streaked white underparts with pale brown wash. Head is gray and bill is short and slightly decurved. Wings are dark with very thin, white bars. Tail is dark with white corners. Sexes are similar. Worn adult plumage is duller. Juvenile is browner and has streaked head and back.

Range and Habitat

Sage Thrasher: Breeds in the western U.S. from eastern Washington and Oregon, across southern Idaho and Montana south through Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to northern Arizona and New Mexico. Spends winters in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as northern Mexico, including Baja California. Preferred habitats include dry sagebrush plains and arid areas such as the floors of rocky canyons.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chuck-chuck"

Interesting Facts

 A bird of the sagebrush, the Sage Thrasher is the smallest of the thrashers.

 It is elusive when disturbed, frequently running on the ground rather than taking flight.

 Some genetic studies suggest that they are more closely related to mockingbirds than true thrashers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Sage Thrasher
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)_blue
Species Oreoscoptes montanus
Length8.5 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Sage Thrasher

Sage Thrasher: Small thrasher, gray upperparts, dark-streaked white underparts with pale brown wash. The head is gray, bill is short and slightly decurved. Wings are dark with thin,white bars. Tail is dark with white corners. Legs and feet are black. Fast flight on shallow wing beats.

● Song: "chuck-chuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sage Thrasher: Eats insects, other invertebrates, and berries; forages on the ground and in vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Sage Thrasher: Four to seven green blue to dark blue eggs heavily spotted with brown are laid in a nest made of twigs, forbs, bits of bark, and leaves, and lined with fine material. Nest is usually built in sagebrush or another large bush with a broad crown. Incubation ranges from 13 to 17 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Sage Thrasher: Bendire's and Curve-billed thrashers have decurved bills, browner upperparts, and fewer spots on underparts.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with shallow wing beats., Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
Sage Thrasher Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Sage Thrasher: Breeds in the western U.S. from eastern Washington and Oregon, across southern Idaho and Montana south through Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to northern Arizona and New Mexico. Spends winters in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as northern Mexico, including Baja California. Preferred habitats include dry sagebrush plains and arid areas such as the floors of rocky canyons.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.4 Ounces