#Oreoscoptes

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Sage Thrasher

Photo: Mick Thompson

"This well-named bird is seldom found in summer away from stands of sagebrush. Smaller and shorter-billed than most thrashers, it may suggest a washed-out robin. During the breeding season, its melodious song can be heard incessantly at dawn on the sagebrush flats. The Sage Thrasher is sometimes elusive; if pursued closely it may seem to disappear, only to pop up on a bush top a hundred yards away."

- Audubon Field Guide

[birdblues]

Sage Thrasher

[staudnhuckn]

Sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus)

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, USA

Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache), and Mescalero Apache land

[wonder-rooms]

Sage Thrasher, Oreoscoptes montanus and True Thrushes, Turdus. The Birds of America (1837) - John James Audubon

[dendroica]

Hawks, Sparrows, Flycatchers: Meet the Birds of the Sagebrush Country

The sagebrush ecosystem the Greater Sage-Grouse depends on is considered one of the most imperiled in the U.S. This expansive, treeless landscape teems with sagebrush, wildflowers, and native grasses, but it now covers only half of its former range. Meet a few of the birds that, like the sage-grouse, rely on this unique habitat to survive. (And read more about efforts to conserve the grouse.)

Sagebrush Sparrow

The medium-sized Sagebrush Sparrow is found mostly on the ground or hidden in shrubs. Research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management showed that Sagebrush Sparrows and Brewer's Sparrows declined significantly in Wyoming's Upper Green Basin as the number of natural gas wells in the area increased, suggesting that the region's songbirds could also be affected by increased energy development.

Brewer's Sparrow

The smallest North American sparrow, the Brewer's Sparrow is considered an especially sensitive species. Reports show that the bird has been steadily declining over the last few decades despite once being among the most abundant birds in the large area known as the Intermountain West, which stretches from Washington to Colorado.

Much like the sage-grouse, fragmentation and loss of sagebrush habitat is a key threat to this bird. Research shows that these sparrows are more abundant near large sage-grouse leks, suggesting that conservation of breeding habitat for sage-grouse could also benefit this sparrow.

Sage Thrasher

This species is considered at risk largely due to loss of or damage to its breeding habitat caused by oil and gas development, agriculture, and the spread of invasive plants. A recent study by researchers at the University of Wyoming showed that gas fields in western Wyoming tend to attract rodents, which prey on the nests of Sage Thrashers and other sagebrush-obligate birds, resulting in population declines.

(read more)

[squawkoverflow]

A new variant has been added!

Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) © A. G.

It hatches from black, brown, crisp, furtive, long, loose, musical, other, small, strong, thin, true, western, and white eggs.

squawkoverflow - the ultimate bird collecting game          🥚 hatch    ❤️ collect     🤝 connect

[pis3update]

Birds of America - Passerines by PharaohHound

Common raven (Corvus corax)

Western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) and Scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea)

American robin (Turdus migratorius)

Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula)Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)Grey jay (Perisoreus canadensis)Black-throated magpie-jay (Calocitta colliei)Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)Loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)Fork-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus savana)Hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus)Yellow-billed magpie (Pica nutalli), Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) (1 plate)Mangrove cuckoo (Coccyzus minor)Sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) Varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) (1 plate)Bullock's oriole (Icterus bullockii), Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula), Varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) Northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) (1 plate)And the final set are:Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)......More on MTS

[wigmund]

From American Bird Conservancy Bird of the Week; October 13, 2017:

Sage Thrasher

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Oreoscoptes montanus POPULATION: 6.6 million TREND: Decreasing HABITAT: Breeds almost exclusively in dense stands of sagebrush; uses other brushy habitat types in winter and migration

The plain-looking, yellow-eyed Sage Thrasher is sometimes called the “mountain mockingbird” due to its song — a long, melodious jumble of musical notes and phrases reminiscent of the widespread Northern Mockingbird.

This lively song inspired American ornithologist A.C. Bent to dub the Sage Thrasher “the poet of the lonesome sagebrush plain.”

True to its scientific name, Oreoscoptes montanus (“mimic of the mountains”), the Sage Thrasher imitates other birds that share its habitat, including Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Sparrow, and Horned Lark. In fact, genetic studies by ornithologists Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist show that this smallest North American thrasher species may be more closely related to the mockingbird family than to other thrashers.

Sagebrush Specialist

The Sage Thrasher breeds in dry, open sagebrush steppes across the western United States. It's a short-distance migrant, moving only as far south as Mexico for the winter.

Like other birds dependent upon sagebrush habitats, including Greater Sage-Grouse and Sagebrush Sparrow, Sage Thrasher populations have declined as the wide-open spaces of the American West have been put to increasing human use. Along with direct clearing of habitat for development, invasive plants such as cheatgrass — a weed imported from Eurasia in the 1800s – have made vast areas of former sage habitat unusable for sage-obligate species like these.

During migration and winter, Sage Thrashers can be found in a wider range of habitats, including grasslands with scattered shrubs and open pinyon-juniper woodlands. Our work with Pronatura Noreste in northern Mexico helps to protect wintering habitat for the thrasher, as well as birds like Baird's Sparrow and Worthen's Sparrow, a species found only in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert.

Long-legged Bug Chaser

Similar to other thrashers, the Sage Thrasher forages on the ground, chasing down a variety of insects, including ants, wasps, and beetles, on long, strong legs. It may also take berries, particularly during migration and on the wintering grounds.

Sage Thrasher's bilateral wing display. Photo by Ron Dudley

When courting, the male flies in a series of undulating circles over his territory while singing, then lands on top of a sagebrush or other perch with wings held high, a behavior known as a "bilateral wing display."

Sage Thrashers nest on or near the ground in tall, dense sagebrush with overhead cover. This site choice may be a strategy to deter aerial predators such as hawks. Nests are often oriented eastward to capture the sun's heat on cool desert mornings and shade the eggs during baking-hot afternoons.

Sage Thrashers recognize Brown-headed Cowbird eggs and quickly eject them from their nests, so are rarely affected by cowbird parasitism.

Saving Sagebrush Thrasher and Other Species

Although the Sage Thrasher is still considered fairly common, this species has shown troubling declines. Data compiled by the North American Breeding Bird Survey between 1966 and 2014 show a cumulative decline of 52 percent in the overall population.

ABC's work to conserve Greater Sage-Grouse — including advocating for effective management plans for the species on public lands — also benefits the Sagebrush Thrasher. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced a proposal to substantially alter existing conservation plans for Greater Sage-Grouse across 10 states.

These hard-won plans were developed by stakeholders across the West, and many oppose weakening them. Add your voice by speaking out during Interior's comment period and by sending letters to decision-makers via our action alert system!

[fifiweihao-blog]

Sage Thrasher Woodlawn Cemetery Santa Monica rare bird for Los Angeles 144

Joyce Waterman points…. "There he is!" The little feathered celebrity is on the ground picking out tasty treats to eat then quietly perches on a headstone or flies to a young scrawny sycamore tree. The freshly mowed grass is a far cry from his sagebrush steppe habitat. "The fresh fall plumage of a Sage Thrasher looks much brighter and “sexier” to us than the worn and faded plumage of a breeding summer bird. But for many birds, having feathers in good condition may be more important for migration and surviving the winter than showing off in spring…maybe that’s why thrashers have such great songs?" Brian L. Sullivan

Posted by pekabo90401 on 2018-01-27 04:00:48

Tagged: , Lightroom , Lifer , Life bird , Rare bird , pekabo90401 , southern california birds , Bird watching , Bird watching Los Angeles , Wesen , woodlawn cemetery birds , lawn monkey , Canon , Camaraderie , 80D , canon 80 D , 100-400 , santa monica , Oreoscoptes montanus , sage thrasher , Moqueur des armoises , Friendship , Fugl , chim , oiseau , lind , ibon , avem , manu , 鳥 , นก , πουλί , 새 , پرنده , птица , Wintertime , Winter light , santa monica woodlawn cemetery , mockingbird cousin , mountain mockingbird , Migration , migrating bird , thrasher , allaboutboids has a typo calls him sage trasher

The post Sage Thrasher Woodlawn Cemetery Santa Monica rare bird for Los Angeles 144 appeared first on Good Info.

[dendroica]

Sage thrasher on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge (via USFWS Mountain-Prairie)

Sage thrashers feed primarily on terrestrial insects and arthropods, such as ants, grasshoppers, and ground beetles, which they find on Seedskadee NWR in the sage steppe, where they nest. They will also add berries into their diet when available. By late July, Saskatoon servicerries are ripening on Seedskadee NWR, and seemingly every sage thrasher in the County shows up to eat them.

Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS

[squawkoverflow]

A new variant has been added!

Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) © Edwin L Sheppard

It hatches from black, brown, crisp, furtive, long, loose, musical, other, small, strong, thin, true, western, and white eggs.

squawkoverflow - the ultimate bird collecting game          🥚 hatch    ❤️ collect     🤝 connect