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Toxostoma rufum

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Brown Thrasher

G5Secure Found in 43 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103922
Element CodeABPBK06010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyMimidae
GenusToxostoma
Other Common Names
brown thrasher (EN) Cuitlacoche Rojizo (ES) Moqueur roux (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Suggested to constitute a superspecies with T. LONGIROSTRE and T. GUTTATUM (Mayr and Short 1970). However, although T. RUFUM and T. LONGIROSTRE are likely sister species, they differ by 5% sequence divergence in their mitochondrial DNA (more than other closely related TOXOSTOMA species), and T. GUTTATUM was distinct from both T. RUFUM and T. LONGIROSTRE in the phylogenetic analyses of Zink et al. (1999). Placed in Sturnidae in Sibley and Ahlquist (1984).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-10
Change Date1996-12-03
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: southeastern Alberta across south Canada to New Brunswick, south to eastern Texas, Gulf Coast, and southern Florida, west to eastern Colorado. NON-BREEDING: eastern New Mexico, eastern Oklahoma, western Tennesse, and southern Maryland south to southeastern Texas, Gulf Coast, and southern Florida.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Thickets and bushy areas in deciduous forest clearings and forest edge, shrubby areas and gardens; in migration and winter also in scrub (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Nests on ground under small bush or as high as about 4 m in tree, shrub, vine.

Ecology

Nest predation accounted for 54% of nest failures in Kansas (Murphy and Fleischer 1986).

Reproduction

Clutch size 3-6 (usually 4). Sometimes 2 broods per year. Incubation 11-14 days, by both sexes. Young tended by both parents, leave nest in 9-13 days. May find new mate for second nesting. See Murphy and Fleischer (1986).
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - HardwoodShrubland/chaparralOld fieldSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5B
ProvinceRankNative
AlbertaS4BYes
SaskatchewanS5BYes
ManitobaS4BYes
Nova ScotiaS1BYes
OntarioS4BYes
QuebecS4BYes
New BrunswickS2BYes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
New HampshireS3Yes
New JerseyS3B,S4NYes
Rhode IslandS4BYes
IndianaS4BYes
ConnecticutS3BYes
FloridaS4Yes
ArkansasS4Yes
IllinoisS5Yes
OhioS5Yes
New MexicoS4NYes
LouisianaS5Yes
DelawareS4BYes
ColoradoS4Yes
MichiganS5Yes
MississippiS5B,S5NYes
West VirginiaS4BYes
MarylandS5B,S2NYes
AlabamaS5Yes
MinnesotaSNRBYes
KansasS5BYes
ArizonaS1NYes
WisconsinS4BYes
District of ColumbiaS3B,S3NYes
MontanaS5BYes
NebraskaS5Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
South DakotaS5BYes
TexasS4BYes
IowaS5B,S5NYes
MassachusettsS4Yes
VirginiaS5Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
WyomingS5BYes
MissouriSNRB,SNRNYes
New YorkS3BYes
MaineS4BYes
KentuckyS4BYes
South CarolinaS5Yes
North CarolinaS5B,S5NYes
UtahS2NYes
VermontS4BYes
North DakotaSNRBYes
PennsylvaniaS4B,S3N,S5MYes
Roadless Areas (43)
Alabama (1)
AreaForestAcres
Blue MountainTalladega National Forest4,986
Arkansas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Little BlakelyOuachita National Forest3,342
Georgia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Kelly RidgeChattahoochee National Forest8,325
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big Snowy Mountains WsaLewis and Clark National Forest88,003
New Mexico (2)
AreaForestAcres
Contiguous To Black & Aldo Leopold WildernessGila National Forest111,883
RendijaSanta Fe National Forest2,176
North Carolina (8)
AreaForestAcres
BearwallowPisgah National Forest4,113
Craggy MountainPisgah National Forest2,657
Harper CreekPisgah National Forest7,325
Jarrett CreekPisgah National Forest7,485
Laurel MountainPisgah National Forest5,683
Overflow CreekNantahala National Forest3,379
South Mills RiverPisgah National Forest8,588
Tusquitee BaldNantahala National Forest13,670
North Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Long X DivideDakota Prairie Grasslands10,099
Tennessee (5)
AreaForestAcres
Bald MountainCherokee National Forest11,743
Bald River Gorge AdditionCherokee National Forest1,728
Flint Mill GapCherokee National Forest9,494
Sampson Mountain AdditionCherokee National Forest3,064
Stone MountainCherokee National Forest5,367
Vermont (1)
AreaForestAcres
Griffith Lake 09084Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests1,833
Virginia (14)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekJefferson National Forest18,274
Brush MountainJefferson National Forest6,002
Hunting Camp Little Wolf CreekJefferson National Forest8,953
Kelley MountainGeorge Washington National Forest7,590
Little RiverGeorge Washington National Forest27,292
Mt. PleasantGeorge Washington National Forest8,933
North MountainJefferson National Forest8,377
Northern MassanuttenGeorge Washington National Forest9,444
Oliver MountainGeorge Washington National Forest13,090
Peters Mountain Addition BJefferson National Forest2,909
Raccoon BranchJefferson National Forest4,388
Seng MountainJefferson National Forest6,428
Shawvers Run AdditionJefferson National Forest1,927
Southern MassanuttenGeorge Washington National Forest11,985
West Virginia (7)
AreaForestAcres
Cranberry Glades Botanical AreaMonongahela National Forest785
Dolly Sods Roaring PlainMonongahela National Forest13,392
Dry River (WV)George Washington National Forest7,331
Falls Of Hills CreekMonongahela National Forest6,925
Little MountainMonongahela National Forest8,172
Mcgowan MountainMonongahela National Forest10,504
North Mountain HopevilleMonongahela National Forest6,525
References (26)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. Bent, A.C. 1948. Life histories of North American nuthatches, wrens, thrashers, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 195. Washington, DC.
  5. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  6. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  7. Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
  8. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  9. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  10. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  11. Mayr, E., and L. L. Short. 1970. Species taxa of North American birds. Publ. Nuttall Ornithological Club 9.
  12. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  13. Murphy, M. T., and R. C. Fleischer. 1986. Body size, nest predation, and reproductive patterns in brown thrashers and other mimids. Condor 88:446-455.
  14. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  15. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  16. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  17. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  18. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
  19. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  20. Sibley, C.G., and J.E. Ahlquist. 1984. The relationships of the starlings (Sturnidae: Sturnini) and the mockingbirds (Sturnidae: Mimini). Auk 101:230-243.
  21. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  22. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  23. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  24. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  25. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  26. Zink, R. M., D. L. Dittmann, J. Klicka, and R. C. Blackwell-Rago. 1999. Evolutionary patterns of morphometrics, allozymes, and mitochondrial DNA in thrashers (Genus TOXOSTOMA). Auk 116:1021-1038.