Brown Thrasher

The brown thrasher! The state bird of Georgia and its easy to see why.  This photo was taken June 17th 2013.  I remember the day distinctively.  It was the evening and I was sitting in the kitchen as Susanne's mom was making me dinner.  I recall requesting meatloaf and she was in the process of making it.  I just so
happened to have my camera right in front of me and was able to snap a single picture of this bird before it flew on its way. I've seen many since but none so close or as picturesque. Me and Susanne actually found a brown thrasher nest in the shrubs next to Susanne's house. There were three little birds in it, no more than 8 days old judging from the plumage. An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.

It can be tricky to glimpse a Brown Thrasher in a tangled mass of shrubbery, and once you do you may wonder how such a boldly patterned, gangly bird could stay so hidden. Brown Thrashers wear a somewhat severe expression thanks to their heavy, slightly downcurved bill and staring yellow eyes, and they are the only thrasher species east of Texas. Brown Thrashers are exuberant singers, with one of the largest repertoires of any North American songbird. Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers. Brown Thrashers spend most of their time near or on the ground, walking, running, or hopping. They feed by sweeping their long bills through leaf litter to uncover insects and other invertebrates. The noise made during this was a thrashing sound, thus it's name.