Bird guide · Toxostoma rufum
Brown Thrasher
What the brown thrasher eats, where it lives, when it comes to feeders and how to recognise it – with sightings from every US state.
- Season
- Partial migrant
- Size
- 11.5 in (29 cm)
- Eats
- suet, fruit
- Feeds
- ground
- Most common
- Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi
Food
What do brown thrashers eat?
At feeders, brown thrashers take suet, fruit.
Forages on the ground, flipping leaves aside with its bill; a few stay north in winter around feeders.
Feeder that suits it
A low tray or platform feeder, or seed scattered on the ground below your feeder.
Range
Where do brown thrashers live?
Eastern and central US and southern Canada; mostly migratory in the north, resident in parts of the south. By share of all bird sightings, brown thrashers are most common in Georgia (1.4%).
States where brown thrashers are most common
- Georgia1.4%
- Alabama1.4%
- Mississippi1.2%
- South Carolina1.1%
- North Carolina1.1%
- Tennessee1.0%
- Louisiana0.9%
- Arkansas0.8%
- Kansas0.7%
- Nebraska0.7%
Share of all bird sightings in each state that are brown thrashers, 2019–2024.
Season
Does the brown thrasher migrate?
Partial migrant. Across the US it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in April.
Share of all bird sightings in the US that are brown thrashers, by month.
Identification
How to identify the brown thrasher
Adults: Rufous-brown above, striped below, with a long tail and yellow eyes.
Size: 11.5 in (29 cm)
On camera
Getting the brown thrasher on a feeder camera
Most visits happen on the ground or on low trays. A camera feeder with a wide tray, placed low near cover, catches far more than a hanging tube.
Questions
Brown Thrasher: questions
What do brown thrashers eat?
At feeders, suet, fruit.
Do brown thrashers migrate?
Partial migrant. Across the US it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in April.
Where do brown thrashers live?
By share of all bird sightings, they are most common in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina. They are rare or absent in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada.
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