Bird name:

Sage Thrasher

Oreoscoptes montanus

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)

Code 4

SATH

Code 6

OREMON

ITIS

178654

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Common to fairly common

Egg Color:

Green blue to dark blue with heavy brown spotting

Number of Eggs:

4 - 7

Incubation Days:

13 - 17

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with fine material., Twigs, leaves, rootlets, grass, and bark.

Migration:

Migratory

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

General

Sage Thrasher: Small thrasher with gray upperparts and dark-streaked white underparts with pale brown wash. Head is gray and bill is short and slightly decurved. Wings are dark with very thin, white bars. Tail is dark with white corners. Sexes are similar. Worn adult plumage is duller. Juvenile is browner and has streaked head and back.

Range and Habitat

Sage Thrasher: Breeds in the western U.S. from eastern Washington and Oregon, across southern Idaho and Montana south through Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to northern Arizona and New Mexico. Spends winters in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as northern Mexico, including Baja California. Preferred habitats include dry sagebrush plains and arid areas such as the floors of rocky canyons.

Breeding and Nesting

Sage Thrasher: Four to seven green blue to dark blue eggs heavily spotted with brown are laid in a nest made of twigs, forbs, bits of bark, and leaves, and lined with fine material. Nest is usually built in sagebrush or another large bush with a broad crown. Incubation ranges from 13 to 17 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Sage Thrasher: Eats insects, other invertebrates, and berries; forages on the ground and in vegetation.

Readily Eats

Suet, Sunflower Seed, Nuts

Vocalization

Sage Thrasher: Song is a long, melodious ramble consisting of varied notes and syllables. Some birds sing all night long, especially when the moon is full. Alarm call is "chuck-chuck."

Similar Species

Sage Thrasher: Bendire's and Curve-billed thrashers have decurved bills, browner upperparts, and fewer spots on underparts.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America