Family: Mimidae, Mockingbirds and Thrashers view all from this family

Description 11 1/2" (29 cm). Rufous-brown above, white below with dark brown streaks. Curved bill, long tail; yellow eye. See Long-billed Thrasher.

Habitat Thickets, fields with scrub, and woodland borders.

Nesting 4 or 5 pale blue, brown-dotted eggs in a large, coarsely built nest of twigs, leaves, and rootlets lined with grass. The nest is usually near the ground in a dense, often thorny bush.

Range Breeds from southeastern Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and northern New England south to Gulf Coast and Florida. Winters in southern part of breeding range.

Voice   A variety of musical phrases, each repeated twice; call a sharp smack!

Discussion Brown Thrashers may be confused with thrushes but are larger, have longer tails, and are streaked (not spotted) below. They belong to the same family as the Mockingbird but, unlike that species, are retiring and secretive. They often feed on the ground, scattering dead leaves with their beaks as they search for insects. In recent years they have become scarce in much of their range; no one knows why.