Curve-billed Thrasher
The Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre), is a perching bird native to the southwestern United States and much of Mexico. It is commonly found throughout the deserts and brush-filled areas of the south-western United States, from about the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and across New Mexico to west Texas, as well as most of Mexico, from the Sonoran-Chihuahuan Deserts and south through the Mexican Plateau to regions south of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in south-central Mexico.
The Curve-billed Thrasher is 10 to 12 inches in length, slender in build with a long tail, and a long, curved, sickle-shaped bill. It is pale grayish-brown above with lighter-colored underparts that are vaguely streaked. The tips of the tail are streaked with white, and the sides of the tail are a darker color than its back. The eye of an adult is usually a vivid orange or red-orange, although immature birds have a yellow eye.
The Curve-billed Thrasher can be easily distinguished from other thrasher species in its range as it has a streaked breast, unlike the others’ plain breasts. Although young specimens can be easily mistaken for Bendire’s Thrashers as they are similar until the Curve-billed Thrasher fully develops.
The Curve-billed Thrasher most often roosts in a tall tree or spiny vegetation, preferring a cactus. The nest is a loosely woven cup made of thorny twigs. The female lays 2 to 4 bluish-green with brown speckled eggs. The eggs are incubated by both sexes, and hatch after about thirteen days. The young will leave the nest after 14 to 18 days after hatching. The Curve-billed Thrasher feeds on ground-dwelling insects, as well as seeds, and berries. It often pushes out Cactus Wrens in its area.