Long-billed Thrasher

The Long-billed Thrasher is closely related to the more widespread Brown Thrasher and occupies a similar ecological niche, but is restricted to the dense thorn scrub and brushy woodlands of south Texas and northeastern Mexico. It closely resembles Brown Thrasher but is somewhat grayer and darker overall, with a notably longer and more strongly curved bill.

Bright orange-yellow eyes stand out against a grayish face marked with a dark malar stripe, while the underparts show heavy, bold dark streaking on a whitish background, similar in pattern to Brown Thrasher but with a cooler overall tone.

Key field marks

• Grayish-brown to dark brown upperparts (grayer/darker than Brown Thrasher)
• Long, strongly downcurved bill, longer than Brown Thrasher's
• Bright orange-yellow eyes
• Heavy dark streaking on whitish underparts
• Grayish face with a dark malar stripe

Similar species

Brown Thrasher is warmer rufous-brown above with a shorter bill and largely overlaps in the eastern and central US rather than south Texas. Curve-billed Thrasher, which overlaps in range, lacks bold streaking and shows only faint diffuse breast spotting instead.

Habitat

Long-billed Thrashers favor dense, thorny brush and riparian woodland understory, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley and adjacent thornscrub habitat.

Range

The species is largely restricted to south Texas, especially the lower Rio Grande Valley, and extends south through much of eastern and central Mexico.

Migration

Long-billed Thrashers are non-migratory residents, remaining on territory within their brushy habitat year-round.

Behavior

Long-billed Thrashers forage on the ground within dense cover, using their long bills to flip leaf litter and probe soil for insects and other invertebrates, and also eat fruit; they tend to stay low and somewhat hidden within thick brush.

Voice

The song is a varied series of musical phrases, often delivered in pairs like other Toxostoma thrashers, generally similar to but distinguishable from Brown Thrasher's song with practice; the call is a sharp, whistled note.

Nesting

Nests are built low within dense thorny shrubs, constructed as a bulky cup of twigs. Females lay 2-5 pale blue-green eggs marked with fine spots.