Sage Thrasher
Oreoscoptes montanus · Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Banding codeSATH
Keys to identifying it
1Size & shape
About 8.5 in long.
2Color pattern
- Gray-brown with a streaked breast
- Yellow eye
- Short bill for a thrasher
3Habitat & season
Sagebrush flats
In northern Utah: summer.
Seen most often in August and September.
Share of the region’s research-grade iNaturalist bird observations each month, scaled to this bird’s peak. Highlighted bars are its peak months.
4Voice
A long, continuous, warbling song.
“a run-on warble that goes on and on”
iNat 234026289 by Jonathan Layman · Larimer County, CO, USA · CC BY
Know it
- The smallest thrasher in North America.
- Depends on sagebrush and nests in or under the bushes.
- Its rambling song can last for minutes.
- Recognizes cowbird eggs and throws them out of its nest.
Often confused with
House Finch
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler- Brown Thrasher
- Northern Mockingbird
From iNaturalist identification data for northern Utah.
From Wikipedia
The sage thrasher is a medium-sized passerine bird in the family Mimidae. It is the only species in the genus Oreoscoptes and the smallest of the thrashers. It is found in the regions of western North America, breeding from the Great Basin to southern British Columbia, and migrates south to southern United States and northern Mexico for winter. Sage thrashers are commonly found in shrubsteppe habitat and are strongly associated with sagebrush for which it relies on for nesting.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0