I guarantee you’ll never see this bird in western Pennsylvania.
This is a curve-billed thrasher, photographed by Pittsburgh native Steve Valasek who recently moved to New Mexico.
It’s no surprise that this is one of the first birds Steve saw in the Southwest. It’s common in desert brushland and is easy to find because it forages in the open, even in parks and suburban yards.
The curve-billed thrasher also draws attention to himself by tossing leaves and debris with his long bill and singing a loud scratchy song that’s almost like a mockingbird’s.
All of this ought to make the curve-billed thrasher quite easy to identify but he can be tricky because he resembles Bendire’s thrasher. The clincher is his call note, a liquid “wit-a-wit” or “whit whit” that reminds me of a worried wood thrush (the “nominate species” call notes here).
From what I’ve just written you’d think I’ve seen a curve-billed thrasher, but I’ve never been to New Mexico so I’m looking forward to more of Steve’s pictures. I’m sure he’ll be adding a lot of birds to his Life List.
(photo by Steve Valasek)
I just got back from a trip to Patagonia, AZ where I got to see this guy. It’s the first time I didn’t mind being woken up in the morning because he was making the “whit whit” noise.
When I was a girl, we had Brown Thrashers in our wooded yard in Penn Hills. We also had Chinese Pheasants! Sightings of either one of these birds are few and far between now, really almost NEVER! I can still remember the rich brown color, medium, not dark, of the Thrashers and how LONG their tails were. I wish they were as plentiful now as they were then. Of course, seeing the pheasant come down into our yard with several of his hens was really a treat too. We would call each other and crowd into the dining room to all catch a glimpse of him. Such happy memories.