Bendire's Thrasher
Toxostoma bendirei
Dusty-brown bird with long tail, found in shrubby deserts and grasslands. Tail dark with small white corners; undertail coverts warmer orangey. Eye yellow. Very similar to Curve-billed Thrasher. Subtle differences include smaller, more triangular-shaped markings on breast, and shorter, straighter bill. Shy; often hard to spot on the ground but sometimes perches conspicuously when singing. Ages and sexes similar; juveniles show faint buffy wingbars. Listen for jumbled, rambling song.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Toxostoma bendirei
- Authority
- (Coues, 1873)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
- Genus
- Toxostoma
Range and habitat
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).<p>The species has been described as polytypic, with two subspecies in addition to the nominate form.<p>Toxostoma bendirei (Coues, 1873): Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, California; in Mexico, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California.<p>Toxostoma bendirei candidum van Rossem, 1942: Desert of western Mexico in western Sonora.<p>Toxostoma bendirei rubricatum van Rossem, 1942: Interior of southern and central Sonora and the coastal areas near Isla Tiburón.<p>There is also a 1988 record of it from Alberta, Canada, based on a photograph taken of the subject.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
The Bendire's thrasher is listed as Vulnerable due to range-wide declines primarily as a result of the conversion of habitat to farmland.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Medium-sized owl of upland humid forest mixed with Podocarpus and alders on the east slope of the Andes from NW Argentina to central Bolivia. The only Screech-Owl through much of its range. At lower elevation sites may overlap with Tropical Screech-owl, from which it can be distinguished by its slower, longer song.
Chestnut-eared Bunting
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Burly brown bunting; gets more attractive as you look at it more closely. Brown overall, but intricately patterned in various shades of gray, brown, and black. Combination of a grayish head, extensive dark streaking on the upperparts, and a large brown patch behind the ear (only chestnut in adult males) is unique in the region. Typically inhabits reed beds, grassy fields, and scrubby farmland where it often appears in scattered flocks. Song, usually given from an elevated, exposed perch, is a jumble of twittering, clattering notes. Calls include high, thin “tsik” and lower “chuck.”
Yucatan Flycatcher
Myiarchus yucatanensis
Medium-size Myiarchus flycatcher of tropical woodland and edge in the Yucatan Peninsula. Found mainly at mid-upper levels in trees, and like all members of the genus feeds at fruiting trees, especially the widespread gumbo limbo. Very similar to local populations of Dusky-capped Flycatcher, with dull pale wingbars and limited rusty edging to the tail feathers. Best identified by voice. Most noticeable visual differences from Dusky-capped are a broad, paler grayish area around the eyes, and crisper and brighter whitish edging to the tertials.
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