Georgia Wildlife Federation

Brown Thrasher, Georgia’s State Bird: In Danger?
By Carol Hassell, The Call Editor

Is our state bird in danger of disappearing from Georgia? I posed the question to Tim Keyes, a wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. "There is no real evidence of Brown Thrasher (Toxstoma rufum) declines in Georgia, at least according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey," he says. "The population has fluctuated a bit since 1966 and currently looks on a small dip, but so far nothing bigger than it has experienced in the past. There are many other species of much higher conservation concern. "

The Brown Thrasher, a summer or year-round resident throughout Georgia, is a large bird, 9 to 12 inches in length with a wing span of 11 to 13 inches, making it similar in size to an American Robin or Blue Jay. It is reddish-brown on the crown, back and tail, with white wingbars and whitish or buff underparts heavily streaked with black. The bird's bill is longish and slender; its face is gray with yellow eyes. Brown Thrashers feed on insects, such as beetles, fruits and nuts. It is a mimic, much like the Northern Mockingbird, its smaller cousin, and has one of the largest repertoires of any bird on the continent. Phrases, repeated twice, are frequently melodious and cheery.

According to an American Bird Conservancy and National Wildlife Federation study called Global Warming & Songbirds," distribution of Brown Thrasher in Georgia could begin to shrink with as little as a 4-degree annual average temperature increase."

But Keyes counters, "This is extremely implausible to me, as (the birds) breed from high elevation Georgia to mid-peninsular Florida. Local declines may certainly be occurring," he concluded, "and are most likely due to cleaning up the landscape of brushy, shrubby vegetation." The Cornell Lab of Ornithology reports that populations are declining slowly throughout the species' range (eastern two-thirds of the U.S.), citing habitat changes.

So, while we may not suffer the loss of this particular state icon, we can all play an important part in assuring the species' healthy survival in our own yards or landscapes: leave some brushy area in the back of the yard. It's just the sort of woodland edge or thicket this cheery-sounding bird loves to scratch around in, searching for food, and needs for nesting cover. The good news is that we can assure adequate numbers of our state bird by providing such unmanicured, brushy edges.