Bendire's thrasher

Bendire's Thrasher is 23–28 cm in length, with a long tail and a short bill. It is colored grayish-brown on its upperparts and has paler underparts with faint dark streaks. The eyes are bright yellow, and the tips of the tail are tipped with white.

The Bendire's thrasher is classified as Vulnerable (VU), considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Bendire's Thrasher is 23–28 cm (9 to 11 inches) in length, with a long tail and a short bill. It is colored grayish-brown on its upperparts and has paler underparts with faint dark streaks. The eyes are bright yellow, and the tips of the tail are tipped with white. Because of its similar coloration to the Curve-billed Thrasher, the two birds are very easy to mistake for one another. More

The Bendire's Thrasher lives in the brush-filled deserts and valleys and drylands of the south-western United States, mainly along the southern border that Arizona and New Mexico shares with Mexico, (the Madrean sky islands, mountain range sky islands of the northern Mexican range: Sierra Madre Occidental). The Bendire's Thrasher constructs a cup-shaped nest from twigs, lining the interior with grass stems and rootlets. It is usually placed in a cactus or an otherwise thorny desert shrub or tree. More

Bendire's Thrasher: Breeds in southeastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, southern Colorado, and western and central New Mexico south to central Sonora. Spends winters in northwestern Mexico. Preferred habitats include semi-desert and desert areas, with large shrubs or cacti and open ground, and open woodlands with scattered shrubs and trees. More

The Bendire's Thrasher has upward pointing triangular markings on its breast that occur in streaks in contrast with the more circular spots of the Curve-billed Thrasher, and heavy streaking on the Sage Thrasher. The Bendire's Thrasher has a short, slightly decurved bill, while the Curve-billed Thrasher has a long, conspicuously decurved bill and the Sage Thrasher has a shorter, straighter bill. More

Bendire's Thrasher is a secretive and sparsely distributed species of open shrub habitats in the southwest. BBS data suggest it has experienced significant negative population trends rangewide and in New Mexico, for reasons that are not entirely understood. A significant percentage of the species population may breed in New Mexico. More

Bendire's Thrasher is a bird of the deserts of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Unlike other southwestern thrashers, it leaves the northern portion of its breeding range in winter, and wanderers sometimes appear at unexpected locations. More

Bendire's Thrasher as a young Curve-billed Thrasher as its beak has not grown to its mature length. Distribution / Habitat The Bendire's Thrasher lives in the brush-filled deserts and valleys and drylands of the south-western United States, mainly along the southern border that Arizona and New Mexico shares with Mexico, (the Madrean sky islands, mountain range sky islands of the northern Mexican range: Sierra Madre Occidental). More

The Bendire's Thrasher is a robin-sized bird that is grayish-brown and has yellow eyes. It is similar to a young Curve-billed Thrasher with a short bill, but smaller, with a shorter tail and more triangular spots on its breast. The song of the Bendire's Thrasher is a clear, melodious warble with some repetition, and continuing at length. Its call is a low chuck. This thrasher flies from bush to bush, whereas other desert thrashers almost never fly. More

The Bendire's Thrasher breeds in southeastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, western New Mexico and Sonora. It winters from central-southern Arizona to Sinaloa. The Bendire's Thrasher inhabits open desert habitats, especially areas with tall vegetation, cholla cactus, creosote bush and yucca. It may also inhabit pinyon-juniper-sage communities, but tends to avoid large areas of continuous, dense brushy cover and grasslands. More

The Bendire's Thrasher (Toxostoma bendirei) remains poorly understood in several important aspects including population size, breeding biology, and habitat requirements. California populations are small and isolated (Grinnell and Miller 1944, England and Laudenslayer 1989a) and therefore vulnerable to disturbance due to off-road vehicle use, grazing, and habitat degradation (Remsen 1978). Remsen (1978) estimated the state's total breeding population to be less than 200 pairs. More

Closer to Arlington, though, a Bendire's Thrasher was up and singing along the road. The pictures on this page were taken using a Sony DSC-S70 Digital Camera through a Swarovski spotting scope. More