A Young Brown Thrasher and His Mum

These may not be the clearest pictures, but we thought we'd include them in any case, as they're the only ones we have of the young brown thrasher and his mum, who we watched foraging for food in our back garden.

The young thrasher is in the background of the top picture; the mum is foraging in the foreground. 

Thrashers eat fruits and insects, but not seeds; they don't come to the feeder, so your only chance to see one is if he decides to forage in your garden or if he's made a nest nearby. You may be able to coax one into your garden with fruits; we've never tried doing so. 

Thrashers belong to the same family as mockingbirds and catbirds. The birds in this family are often called 'mimic thrushes,' and are wonderful songsters. 

Brown thrashers are a vivid rufous colour on top, and heavily striped below. (You may be able to see the stripes on the young thrasher in these pictures.) They have two pale wing bars (you can see them on the mum, above), yellow eyes, a long tail (which you can also see on the mum), and a somewhat curved bill. (Note the shape of the bill on the next to the last picture below.)

The thrasher's note is a harsh chack! The song resembles that of a catbird except it is more musical, and each phrase is generally sung in pairs. They enjoy thickets, brush, shrubbery, and thorn scrub -- which describes our garden to a T. 

Bibliography: Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson.