Brown Thrasher, the secretive singer

The Brown Thrasher usually stays hidden in shrubs and densely covered areas, but they have one of the largest repertories of any North American songbird. They have a unique walk and oftentimes seem to walk rather than fly. We rarely see them perching, usually they are on the ground.

Cool facts from allaboutbirds.com

• An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.

• Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.

• At least one early naturalist thought the Brown Thrasher’s song was underappreciated, writing “Much of the acclaim which has fallen to the Mockingbird is really due to the unperceived efforts of the Brown Thrasher. It is the opinion of many ornithologists that the song… is richer, fuller, and definitely more melodious than that of the Northern Mockingbird.

Brown Thrasher