Crissal Thrasher
Toxostoma crissale
Dark grayish thrasher with distinctive rufous undertail coverts. Bill long and strongly curved. Tail long and dark. Obvious dark line separating white mustache and white throat. Yellow eye. Secretive and uncommon, although perches conspicuously when singing. Found in brushy deserts. With a good view, easily distinguished from more common Curve-billed Thrasher by darker gray color and rufous undertail coverts. Listen for jumbled, rambling song.
Identification
The bird grows to 32 centimetres (13 in), and has a deeply curved bill. The eyes are dull yellow. Bird expert Roger Tory Peterson described its singing as sweeter and less spasmodic than other thrashers. It can be found near desert streams in dense underbrush, mesquite thickets, willows, scrub oak, high elevations in manzanita, and in the low desert near canyon chaparral. The bird seldom flies in the open. As such, the crissal thrasher rarely flies, preferring to walk or run around its territory and will mostly run for cover when disturbed by a potential predator. The bird's name is derived from the characteristic bright coloring, in contrast to the balance of its plumage, of the area between its tail and vent—a region known as the crissum.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Toxostoma crissale
- Authority
- Henry, 1858
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
- Genus
- Toxostoma
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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