The curved bill thrasher is a medium-sized songbird found in the southeastern United States. With its long curved bill and bright yellow eyes, the thrasher is a distinctive backyard bird. Thrashers got their name from their behavior of thrashing the leaf litter on the ground in search of insects and other small prey. While thrashers can be elusive, you can attract them to your yard by providing suitable habitat, food sources, and nesting spots. Read on for tips on how to bring these birds into view!
About the Curved Bill Thrasher
The curved bill thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) is a passerine bird in the mimid family along with mockingbirds and catbirds. They are medium in size at 8.5-11 inches long with a wingspan around 13 inches. Curved bill thrashers have long tails and legs and curved bills that are perfect for probing into soil and prying bark. Their plumage is reddish-brown above and pale below with dark streaks. The males and females look alike.
Range and Habitat
Curved bill thrashers are resident birds found year-round in the southeastern United States. Their breeding range extends from southern Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia down to the Gulf Coast and into central Florida. They prefer open woodland habitats with dense understory vegetation including forest edges, second growth forests, overgrown fields, hedgerows, and yards with brushy cover.
Diet
Thrashers spend much of their time foraging on the ground, using their curved bill to probe into soil, leaf litter, and brush. They eat a variety of insects and other invertebrates like beetles, caterpillars, snails, spiders, and worms. Curved bill thrashers will also eat small vertebrates like lizards, frogs, snakes, mice, and the eggs of other birds. During winter they switch over to eating more berries, seeds, and acorns.
Nesting
The breeding season for curved bill thrashers runs from March to July. They are solitary nesters, with males defending large breeding territories up to 20 acres in size. The male thrashers construct a bulky nest of sticks lined with finer grasses and roots, placed low in a dense shrub or small tree 3-15 feet above ground. Females lay 3-4 eggs that hatch after about 2 weeks. Both parents feed the nestlings until they fledge at 10-15 days old. Thrashers may raise 2-3 broods per year.
Attracting Curved Bill Thrashers
Follow these tips to make your yard attractive to curved bill thrashers:
Provide Brushy Habitat
Thrashers seek out areas with dense tangles of shrubs, vines, and brush piles where they can search for food while staying hidden. Plant native shrubs like hawthorns, wild roses, sumac, blackberries, and hollies. Let dead vegetation stand over winter. Pile up pruned branches. The more cover, the better!
Leave Natural Leaf Litter
Rake leaves into unused corners and woodland areas instead of bagging them. Thrashers will forage through the leaf litter searching for insects, larva, and other prey. You can also spread bark mulch around planting beds.
Offer Berries and Fruit
Thrashers will visit fruiting shrubs and trees like dogwoods, crabapples, serviceberries, mulberries, wild grapes, and persimmons. Plant native varieties that will produce berries and fruit through fall and winter. You can also set out cut fruits like oranges, apples, and bananas in a platform feeder.
Supply Insect Foods
While thrashers find most of their animal prey by foraging, you can supplement their diet with high-protein foods like mealworms, crickets, beetles, and larva. Offer live or dried insects from tube or platform feeders placed at ground level or low in shrubs.
Add Nesting Sites
Thrashers will appreciate native shrubs and evergreens that provide cover for nest sites. Allow dead trees or stumps to stand unless they pose a hazard. You can also install small nesting boxes with 1 1⁄2 inch diameter entrance holes mounted 5-10 feet high in trees.
Provide Water
Thrashers need to drink and bathe daily. Add a ground-level birdbath, waterfall, or small wildlife pond with shallow, sloping sides. Change water frequently to keep it clean. Add rocks or branches to provide perches at different depths.
Limit Yard Work
Thrashers avoid excessively manicured yards because the lack ground cover. Go easy on clearing brush, raking, mowing, and pruning during nesting season from March to August. Leave dead vegetation over winter for foraging sites.
Spotting Curved Bill Thrashers
Here are tips for spotting curved bill thrashers when they visit your yard:
Look Low
Scan low in dense shrubbery and brush piles near the ground. Thrashers spend most of their time skulking in the understory as they forage.
Listen for Sounds
Thrashers have a varied repertoire of rattling, squeaky, whistling calls. Learn their common “pit-pit-pit” and sharp “wheep” calls. Also listen for the male’s beautiful warbled song in spring.
Watch Foraging Behavior
Observe for thrashers tossing leaves as they dig in litter searching for prey. Also look for them probing bark crevices and hammering snails against rocks to access the meat inside.
Use Mealworms
Spread live mealworms across a flat ground feeder or hang worms in an open mesh suet cage. The wriggling worms will attract thrashers to feed.
Be Patient
Thrashers are shy and will take some time to get used to yard changes. Allow a few weeks for them to find new feeders and get comfortable with your presence before giving up.
Identifying Curved Bill Thrashers
Use these tips to identify curved bill thrashers:
- Medium-sized thrush-like bird around 9 inches long
- Bright reddish-brown upperparts and pale underside with dark streaks
- Buffy wingbars visible in flight
- Very long tail often held cocked upward
- Named for long downcurved bill
- Yellow eyes
- Furtive behavior as they sneak through vegetation
- Loud rattling calls
- Melodious and complex song
Compare to similar species:
- Northern Mockingbird – Leaner with a long tail and straight slender bill. White wing patches flash in flight. Sings from open perches.
- Gray Catbird – Smaller with a black cap and darker gray plumage. Meows and squawks loudly. Found in dense vegetation.
- Brown Thrasher – Larger with bright orange below and curved bill. Upturned tail. Found in more open and northern areas.
Fun Facts About Curved Bill Thrashers
- The oldest known curved bill thrasher was over 10 years old when recaptured in the wild.
- Males learn their songs from their fathers beginning a few months after hatching.
- Curved bill thrashers are shy and will freeze or crouch low when alarmed instead of flying away.
- They got their name “thrasher” from vigorously tossing leaf litter aside as they search for prey underneath.
- Thrashers smash snails against rocks to break the shell and eat the snail inside.
- Both male and female thrashers build the nest together, though the male does more of the work.
- Thrasher pairs are monogamous and mate for life unless one bird dies.
- Young thrashers hatch with closed eyes and sparse down. They depend on their parents for 2-3 weeks.
- Thrashers have specialized feathers over their nostrils to keep out dust while probing in soil.
- They are fierce defenders of their nests and will attack snakes, cats, and predators.
Conclusion
With dense cover, natural foods, and nesting spots, you can attract shy but charismatic curved bill thrashers to your backyard. Once present, take time to observe their skittish behavior and listen for their rattling calls. Getting a good view of these reddish songbirds as they toss leaves and probe is a rewarding experience for any birder. Do your best to provide the right habitat, exercise patience, and you will be rewarded with regular visits from these unique mimids. When you spot that downcurved bill peeking from the brush, you’ll know your efforts have paid off!