Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum). A visitor during the breeding season. A visitor that I really look forward to seeing, though that doesn’t happen often. These birds love hiding in dense cover and briar tangles, coming out to search on the ground for insects and other arthropods. They’ll also search in trees for fruits, seeds, and nuts, but their favored place seems to be on the ground which is where I see them most often.

The Brown Thrasher reminds me of one of my favorite birds, the Road Runner, state bird of New Mexico. Perhaps it’s because of the very long tail each of these birds has. But the Brown Thrasher does not go, “Meep meep!” Instead, a mimic, the male is quite the vocalist, singing an impressive repertoire of musical snippets, each repeated twice as he goes on, and on, filling the air with beauty.