Brown Thrasher

This Brown Thrasher was out and about last spring. These birds are part of a family of bird mimics that includes the Northern Mockingbird.

Though the Brown Thrasher doesn't look much like the Northern Mockingbird, if you can't see the bird but only hear the mimicry, you can confuse them. The main difference is that while the Brown Thrasher will mimic a sound (frequently but not necessarily a bird song/call) twice before moving on to the next sound, the Northern Mockingbird will mimic a sound 3 times before moving on to the next sound.

This particular bird was slightly hidden by foliage, though it's not too bad a picture.

Though range maps show Brown Thrashers spending the winter a little south of here, they are expected to winter as close to here as Delaware/Maryland. Given that birds probably adjust their migration from year to year based on temperature and the abundance of food, it wouldn't surprise me if someone spotted some of them around here in the winter.

May 18, 2023 at Willowwood Arboretum
Photo 292813210, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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