Listen to the brown thrasher
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the brown thrasher
The brown thrasher is a bird in the family Mimidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”.
What does the brown thrasher sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as song. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), sometimes erroneously called the brown thrush or fox-coloured thrush, is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The brown thrasher is abundant throughout the eastern and central United States and southern and central Canada, and it is the only thrasher to live primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia.
As a member of the genus Toxostoma, the bird is relatively large-sized among the other thrashers. It has brown upper parts with a white under part with dark streaks. Because of this, it is often confused with the smaller wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), among other species. The brown thrasher is noted for having over 1,000 song types, and the largest song repertoire of birds. However, each note is usually repeated in two or three phrases.
Related birds in the genus Toxostoma
More from the family Mimidae
Frequently asked questions
What does a brown thrasher sound like?
You can hear 2 recordings of the brown thrasher on this page, including its song. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the brown thrasher endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the brown thrasher as “least concern”.
What family does the brown thrasher belong to?
The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) belongs to the family Mimidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Song · Grey Cloud Dunes SNA, Washington, Minnesota, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Song · Afton State Park, Washington County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q928134 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Brown thrasher – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Rhododendrites – CC BY-SA 4.0